Kingsbury Court, a care home managed by MMCG (Maria Mallaband Care Group), faced challenges with a high incidence of falls among residents despite having existing falls management strategies in place. Through proactive leadership, staff engagement, and the strategic implementation of Ally’s AI Resident Monitoring system, Kingsbury Court has eliminated all associated preventable falls for at-risk residents and reduced falls overall by 65%. Here’s their story
Identifying the Need:
In Autumn 2023, Surrey Heartlands Integrated Care Board (ICB) launched a pilot project aimed at exploring technology to enhance falls prevention efforts and alleviate strain on the wider care system. As part of this endeavour, Ally Cares, a trusted provider of acoustic monitoring technology was selected as a partner for this project.
Jay Trondillo, Care Manager at KIngsbury Court at the time, had observed an increase in falls incidents during the night when the residents required extra support or if they were experiencing increased levels of confusion. He set out to find a technology versatile enough to help monitor resident’s needs, well-being and movements but would allow staff to assist or intervene at the earliest point in time to reduce the risk of a fall without impeding their independence.
Surrey Heartlands ICB invited Kingsbury Court to be one of four CQC registered care home providers to participate in a Sensor Based Falls Protection and Detection Technology (SBFPDT) pilot which was funded by the Digitising Adult Social Care (DiSC) Programme. The pilot sought to evidence that acoustic monitoring is a versatile technology capable of offering real-time insights, reducing night-time falls and hospital admissions, improving resident’s sleep and enabling night staff to participate in a broader range of duties
Jay recognised the versatility of acoustic monitoring technology and its capability to offer real-time insights while respecting residents’ autonomy. Jay outlines why he was happy to work with Ally’s Resident Monitoring system as a potential solution.
“The reason we chose Ally’s acoustic monitoring solution is the fact that we have heard of Ally being used by other providers and we’ve seen positive reviews about the system with regards to the outcomes expected, particularly falls”
Implementation Support:
MMCG provided comprehensive support throughout the entire implementation process. Trondillo’s team engaged in due diligence, ensuring compliance with data protection policies. They also sought cross functional support from IT around the system installation and endorsement from the clinical team about Ally’s integration into how they provide care. This collaborative approach fostered a smooth transition and instilled confidence in the system among staff.
“To implement the Ally system is collaborative work and I felt supported by the company in its implementation”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Cultural Impact on Change Management:
MMCG’s resident-centric culture and collaborative approach played a pivotal role in driving positive change and fostering a safe, supportive environment for residents and staff alike. The adoption of Ally was embraced by staff who wanted to understand how using this technology could enhance resident care. With this cultural alignment In place, staff were encouraged to embrace change and take ownership of improvements and this enabled a seamless integration of the Ally solution into daily operations. Here’s what Jay felt was critical to be successful:
“I would say creating that shared vision and equally making people responsible helped the whole home embrace whatever changes we are introducing here”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Staff Experience and Benefits:
Staff at Kingsbury Court found Ally’s Resident Monitoring system intuitive to use and time-saving, allowing them to prioritise essential tasks and provide more attentive care to residents. Over time, staff engagement has increased, leading to improved resident monitoring and sleep patterns. Trondillo has observed enhanced confidence and efficiency levels among staff, contributing to a positive work environment.
“The changes that I’m seeing in my staff team is a lot. It’s nearly three months since we’ve implemented the project and I can see that most of these members of staff have now learned to embrace the system fully to make the residents monitoring system more appropriate and supportive in terms of their sleeping patterns. It has significantly increased the amount of time they are able to utilise on other important or urgent matters within their shift”
Managerial Integration and Oversight:
As a manager, Trondillo seamlessly integrated Ally into his workflow, leveraging daily reports to monitor resident well-being and assess system performance. The system’s summary reports provided reassurance and facilitated informed decision-making, without increasing managerial workload.
“So with Ally, it did not increase the level of workload that I have to do as a manager. As a matter of fact, it gives you more confidence in the morning because there is a summary there waiting for me when I open my inbox, which gives me an overview of how the night went and that reassures me as a care home manager”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Improved Sleep and Overall Well-being of Residents
Since the implementation of Ally, Jay and the team have been able to see what a difference this has made to the residents at Kingsbury Court:
“We’ve seen firsthand since having the Ally system that the majority of residents now have a more peaceful night than before which gives them more energy in the day and we have learned that this has also helped to improve their nutrition and energy levels as well”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Fewer Injuries, Hospital Transfers and Infections
KIngsbury Court has also experienced wider reaching benefits around the versatility of Ally’s solution. As residents are healthier, occupancy at the home has been maintained at capacity as better care outcomes are being achieved:
“We’ve managed to improve resident outcomes as we’ve seen significantly less injuries and fewer hospital transfers, plus we’ve been able to detect early signs of acute infections immediately as the Ally system triggers an alert when a resident’s behaviour is altered”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Approach to Eliminating All Associated Preventable Falls Outcome:
Overall Jay suggests the key elements to eliminating all associated preventable falls incidents at Kingsbury Court can be attributed to staff engagement, proactive management, and continuous improvement:
“I think the buy-in first and foremost was a very critical ingredient because if the staff did not embrace the system fully from the beginning, I think it wouldn’t work. Secondly, it’s the level of monitoring that we put in place as well as management. On a daily basis, we would catch up as a team to look at how the night went. We looked at the reports being sent to us by Ally to understand if there are some deviations in the data that we are seeing and together that has really helped us to successfully manage it
Culturally at Kingsbury Court Jay recognises the importance and value of a resident’s independence, so being able to leverage the Ally system to help manage the risk with this and avoid limiting resident’s freedom is important:
Using the Ally system has enabled us to eliminate all associated preventable falls for at-risk residents. For other residents, Ally has enabled us to promote their independence, giving them the freedom to move around safe in the knowledge that if they have a genuine fall, we’re aware of it and can respond quickly. By focusing on eliminating all associated preventable falls for at-risk residents and promoting independence, we’ve seen overall a reduction of falls by 65%, which we’re incredibly proud of.”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Jay is confident that the Ally system has played a valuable role in contributing to maintaining a low incidence of falls and improving resident outcomes:
“By using Ally, we’ve made massive improvements to our overall falls prevention strategies because we’re alerted much earlier to changes in a resident’s behaviour like coughing or calling out but also we’ve been able to enhance our patient outcomes by using the reports and insights to deliver care when its needed most”
Resident and Family Feedback:
Although residents and families may not have directly perceived the presence of Ally, they appreciated the emphasis on promoting uninterrupted sleep and enhancing resident safety.
“Some families gave feedback that somehow it gives them more confidence that we are promoting sleep and giving the residents uninterrupted time during the night to sleep which gives them more energy in the morning, which means that they can eat more instead of being sleepy in the day”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Recommendations and Looking Ahead:
Reflecting on their experience, Jay and his team wholeheartedly recommend Ally to other care homes seeking to enhance resident safety and well-being and looking for support from start to finish. Jay summarised:
“I think technology is there to be utilised, to help us improve the services that we. We don’t have any concerns or anything and I would advise that anyone if there are any opportunities to embrace technologies such as Ally, grab it.vI think the support is brilliant and fantastic. We find that level of support really encouraging and overall improves our confidence in using the system.”
– Jay Trondillo, Regional Director, Maria Mallaband Care Group
Watch our interview with Jay Trondillo, Regional Director at Maria Mallaband Care Group: