Oxfordshire council uses web-based bed booking
- 4 July 2007
Oxfordshire County Council have started using a new online care bed vacancy database and booking system, using technology from OLM group, an independent supplier of information solutions for children’s and adult services.
The new care home bed vacancy database will be accessible by all the council’s care homes, and staff will be able to update the database as soon as a bed becomes available.
Using the Care Booking system, authorised staff will then be able to reserve a bed using the online system and offer a patient a place in a home as soon as one becomes available. Residents in Oxfordshire can also search the database by logging on via the council’s website.
Rachel Pirie, a service development and contracts officer at the council, told E-Health Insider Primary Care: “The main reason we have set up this website is to maximise efficiency and help to save time usually spent phoning centres to see where beds are available. Now we have a view of all beds taken and available in one go.
“Essentially, the system will have two functions. It will provide a central place for homes to update vacancies, allowing them to straight away say where and when bed vacancies are available in Oxfordshire. It also provides authorised users with lists of beds so that they can make automatically book a patient into a bed and the centre will know of it straight away.”
The bed vacancy and booking system is accessible to both members of the public and the council, and will provide an up-to-date database of information relating to all registered care homes across the county.
Only authorised staff members will be able to ensure that care beds are allocated to a patient in need, members of the public will only be able to view availability.
Oxfordshire County Council’s head of social care for adults, Paul Purnell, said: “These systems have been implemented by OLM over the last few weeks and went live on 2 July. The information provided by these applications will improve the delivery of important services to the citizens of Oxfordshire. We are confident that these cost-effective solutions will bring time-savings as well as financial savings, and will transform our service bringing improved efficiencies.
“This service is for all people who are looking for residential care in Oxfordshire. It is as much for people who are funding the care themselves as it is for those funded by the council. This is a big step forward for Oxfordshire County Council as it is all about improving the way we access residential care.”
Anna Bailey, head of Bettercaring from OLM told EHI: “Undertaking a partnership with a flexible and responsive supplier is of key importance for Oxfordshire County Council, and OLM is highly committed to ensuring the success of this project."
Bailey added: "Combined, Care Booking and BEDVACS will provide Oxfordshire County Council and members of the public with a unique solution to search for information on vacancies within care homes. For the council it will also help achieve optimal care bed occupancy.”
OLM, which has offices based in Oxford, won the contract through a competitive quotes process to provide Care Booking and BEDVACS.
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