About Children’s Hospice South West
Children’s Hospice South West (CHSW) has been caring for children with life-threatening conditions for over 30 years, by providing children’s hospice and professional family support services to those within the South West. CHSW are dedicated to making the most of short and precious lives through the provision of the best possible hospice care for children and young people with life-limiting conditions. The amazing care CHSW offer is not just about medical and nursing support for sick children but is about enriching lives of the children and their whole family.
CHSW provide specialist palliative care, respite for the whole family, a sibling service for brothers and sisters, emergency support, end of life care and a bereavement service for as long as is needed and welcome referrals from anyone. You can find out more about CHSW and the services they provide or make a donation using the links below.
We spoke to CHSW’s Care Digital and Operations Lead, Kate Kempster to understand why Vantage was the perfect fit for their organisation.
Why did you decide on Vantage as a solution?
“CHSW was looking for a digital system to replace our paper-based compliance tools. Discussing the options for this with Governance leads in other hospices, Vantage was the system that was recommended by nearly all the other hospices. The three main reasons for purchase:
• Meets our requirement of a robust digital system for monitoring compliance with quality and safety standards.
• The system is easy to use, from the building of modules to end user, and can be tailored to meet CHSW requirements.
• Competitive on cost.“
Have you improved efficiencies within your charity since purchasing Vantage Software, and if so in which areas?
“The efficiencies are in the time saved by the staff who input the data, the staff who review and analyse the information and in producing reports for internal and external use. The system has provided better compliance monitoring which in turn produces richer and more valuable data, which allows us to focus on areas of improvement, whilst recognising and celebrating successes. Easier access to centrally held information, for example asset registers and contracts, has provided time efficiencies when renewing and sourcing new contracts.“
Do you think Vantage Software is user friendly?
“CHSW Care Digital and Operations Lead has experience of implementing several digital systems in a variety of health and social care settings and reports Vantage to be one of the easiest and simplest to use. As with all digital systems and the transition away from paper-based records, it takes time to train staff, but we have found that most staff have been able to use the system quite adeptly once they are familiar with it.“
Did you appreciate that Vantage Software can be customised to meet your organisations needs?
“The ability to customise the system to meet CHSW requirements was one of the main attractions of the Vantage system over some other systems on the market.“
What do your staff and management think of Vantage Software?
“As with all digital systems and the transition away from paper-based records, it has taken time for staff to adjust to this different way of working. From a management team perspective, the use of Vantage as a central repository for all aspect of governance has provided them with the ability to easily and quickly check compliance which provides them, and the Senior Leadership team, with the assurance required. It has helped embed our positive culture for reporting and enables us to quickly identify any learning outcomes and make improvements. The managers’ report that they like the email triggers and alerts they receive, which helps them keep on top of their work and responsibilities, which ensures they don’t miss essential information or required actions.“
Do you feel you get good support from the Vantage team, regarding implementation, training, and support?
“The customer support has been outstanding, and the team have been dedicated and responsive throughout our journey so far. We have a great professional relationship with them, and they welcome our ideas whilst ensuring that we are supported, compliant, data protected and streamlined throughout.“
