Guild Care Case Wireless Study
About Guild Care
Guild Care is a Sussex based charity organisation providing much needed services for older people, people with dementia, carers and children with special needs. Established in 1933 one of the key activities of the Guild Care is providing residential care and accommodation for older people.
Their homes offer residents the comfort and pleasures of home within a friendly and safe environment that gives them and their relatives complete peace of mind with nursing care available 24 hours a day providing as much or as little assistance as is needed.
The Problem
Guild Care has 4 homes with 40-60 residents in each home. The charity decided to invest in a software package to help them maintain their robust systems of record keeping underpinned by a dynamic and responsive system of care planning. The HET software has been developed and tailored to meet the needs of the organisation, an innovative approach for a care supplier.
Through mobile terminals, it provides a transparent mechanism for monitoring interventions, observations and resident goals and helps them focus on the experience of those using their service.
The Requirements
In order for this system to be used throughout the 4 homes, Guild Care required wireless networks to be deployed.
Guild Care IT Manager James Holley was in change of the project and explained how Guild Care came to consider Cavendish for the project. “We had spoken to Cavendish previously about telephone equipment and contacted them to find out if they had a wireless solution and were put in touch with the Cavendish cabling team.”
James Holley went on to explain that having chosen the iCare Solution from HET Software, they had a clear specification detailing their requirements.
Choosing Cavendish
When asked about the response from Cavendish, James Holley replied that he had been very happy with the response. “Cavendish were able to offer two different wireless networking solutions, one from Extricom and another from Aerohive. The cabling manager from Cavendish understood our requirements and was very proactive providing pricing and technical details for both solutions,” explained James.
Choosing the Extricom Wireless Network
Asked why Guild Care had chosen the Extricom wireless solution from Cavendish, James Holley explained that having considered both options, the Extricom solution appeared to offer two key benefits that suited the Guild Care needs:
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The ultra-thin access points offered better roaming between wireless cells, which could be useful in the future if Guild Care wanted to add wireless telephones to the network.
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The blanket technology from Extricom made it possible to run separate networks over the same infrastructure, which could provide wireless internet access for residents and visitors that would not interfere with the critical care management software.
Commenting on Extricom, James Holley said, “They gave an excellent demonstration of the equipment and provided excellent correspondence during the research stage of the project. They were available to answer any technical questions regarding the set up and operation of the system.”
The Installation and Project Management
Commenting on the installation, James Holley said, “I found all of the Cavendish engineers to be approachable, polite accommodating and helpful.”
“They did an excellent job of overcoming problems faced due to the construction of some of our properties. They were happy to advise on and source any additional equipment.”
“The engineers were flexible enough to carry out extra work, which was outside of the project scope and still finished within the project time frames. All works were completed to an excellent standard.”
“The cabling and project managers were always easily contactable and visited the site regularly. The project manager did an excellent job of maintaining the smooth running
of the project.”
“We enjoyed excellent correspondence between all parties involved making the Project Manager our one point of contact. He was always quick to respond to any queries that arose.”
The Benefits of the New Wireless Solution
Asked about the benefits of the new wireless solution, James Holley explained that the new care planning software had greatly increased efficiency at the 4 homes. The integrated care planning package meant nurses had easy access to vital information about resident medical conditions and allergies and provided structured processes for accident reporting and so on. All of this was reliant on the Cavendish wireless networks,
Recommending Cavendish for Wireless Networks
Talking about the experience of working with Cavendish, James Holley said, “The team at Cavendish had always been proactive and easily contactable. All the work was completed to an excellent standard and within timescales. I would be happy to recommend Cavendish to other organsiations."
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