How St Bartholomew’s Court connected every bedroom and kept families close
INDUSTRY
Nursing care (charity)
STAFF AND RESIDENTS
85 staff, 51 residents
LOCATION
SERVICES
Managed IT Support, Wi-Fi installation, cyber security
St Bartholomew’s Court is a charity-run nursing home in Huyton, caring for 51 frail and elderly residents, many living with dementia. For 25 years, all of their IT was looked after by one person. The Wi-Fi had black spots everywhere, slowing down care planning and medication rounds and leaving residents cut off from their families.
When their provider decided to retire, the home chose Focus. We installed reliable Wi-Fi across the whole building, including every bedroom, and gave the team a whole IT Support service behind them. Now staff take their meds trolleys straight to residents, and residents can video call loved ones from their rooms.
Bedrooms now connected to Wi-Fi
Residents able to video call loved ones
Teething problems during set up
St Bartholomew’s Court is run by St Helens and Knowsley Caring Association, a standalone charity specialising in intermediate care and end-of-life care. The home relies on digital care planning and electronic medication systems, and both depend on a good connection.
Before Focus, the Wi-Fi was close to non-existent. As Michael puts it, the IT was sporadic, disjointed and slow. Staff weren’t short on effort. They were held back by poor infrastructure and a terrible Wi-Fi connection.
There was no single dramatic incident, just a long list of small ones. For Michael, it all came to a head on a Teams call with safeguarding, when he couldn’t access the records he needed. When their long-standing provider decided to retire, the home knew it needed something local, reliable and built for the future.
The internet dropped out constantly. Staff had to buy 5G dongles for iPads to do medications, and every computer had to be hardwired in.
The previous IT provider worked alone and wasn’t local, so every problem meant waiting for him to be available and travel up.
Digital care planning and electronic medication systems kept struggling. Staff walked back to Wi-Fi zones just to sign off meds.
Residents couldn’t easily video call family or enjoy music and TV, and a relative was upset her mum with dementia couldn’t have the sensory support she needed.
Focus started by taking the time to understand St Bartholomew’s Court and how the home runs. The team gave Gemma and Michael a clear report on what needed doing and how it would be done, in plain English for a team who describe themselves as not tech-minded.
We then installed reliable Wi-Fi across the whole building, including every resident’s bedroom. Laptops and iPads now work anywhere in the home, digital care planning and medication systems run smoothly, and cyber security keeps residents, staff and their data safe.
It was a big project, but Focus kept communication proactive and timelines clear, tidied up after every visit and kept disruption to residents, staff and care routines to a minimum.
Day-to-day life at St Bartholomew’s Court is, in Gemma’s words, tons different. Staff take their medication trolleys straight to residents instead of walking back to Wi-Fi zones, which saves time and makes staff feel valued. Residents can enjoy interactive games and sensory support at their bedsides.
Most importantly, residents can video call their sons, daughters, grandchildren and friends, many of whom don’t live locally. For elderly people, loneliness and isolation is a big deal, and reliable Wi-Fi is now helping to keep families connected.
“We have full Wi-Fi access for our residents, our staff, and all our bedrooms have Wi-Fi now. So we can have interactive games and sensory support right at people’s bedsides. We didn’t have that before.”
Gemma Mylett, Deputy Business Manager, St Bartholomew’s Court
“Don’t underestimate how much reliable IT affects the care home. It has improved the quality of life of the patients, it’s improved the quality of work from staff, and it’s generally affected the whole mood and ethos of the home.”
Michael Dutton, Matron and Registered Manager, St Bartholomew’s Court
SUPPORT MODEL
A whole team, not a single point of contact
Instead of waiting for one person to be available, the home can email or phone and someone is always there to help, with a team of specialists behind them.
PLAIN ENGLISH
Clear for teams who are not tech-minded
Focus breaks everything down, explains what is happening and why, and keeps managers updated with clear reports.
CARE-FIRST PROJECTS
Work planned around residents and care routines
Focus agreed visit times in advance, tidied up after every visit and kept disruption to residents and staff to a minimum.
COVERAGE
Serving Knowsley, Merseyside and the North West
Focus supports organisations across the North West, including care homes, charities and multi-site businesses.
Two perspectives from one home. Gemma explains what changed for residents and staff day to day. Michael explains why the home moved on after 25 years, and why he wishes they had done it sooner.
Deputy Business Manager: why the home chose Focus and what changed for residents
My name is Gemma Mylett. I’m the deputy business manager at St Bart’s Nursing Home. I support the matron with the day-to-day operations, day-to-day business management of the home, where we would support 51 residents and we have 85 staff members. So we look after frail and elderly residents who also have dementia.
Before Focus we had one person that managed all our IT provisions, which wasn’t the best solution. Our biggest hurdle was the internet. There was black spots everywhere. It was dropping off all the time. And with having that one person support who wasn’t local, we had to wait quite a long time before we actually got anything done about it. So that would interfere with our care delivery and our digital care planning system, as well as our electronic medication system.
The thing what stood out for me was when a resident’s relative came to us and she was quite upset that her mum couldn’t have Amazon TV or have music playing in the background, and she needed that sensory support because she had dementia. So with that, and then our one person wanted to retire. We thought we need something different. We need something that’s local, reliable, and that’s when Focus stepped in.
What we were looking for was IT support, regular, reliable. We didn’t have that before, but with Focus they gave us all the reliability. They were very, very reactive. We can send our queries direct to them and the response time was absolutely amazing. We also wanted someone local to us, and we wanted someone who would be able to support us in other areas, so cyber security, making sure everything is safe for us to use. Because it’s all about keeping our residents and our staff safe in the home.
What surprised me about getting set up with Focus was just how lovely the people are. They made it understandable to us because we’re not tech-minded, so they broke everything down. They made us understand. They were clear. They gave us good reports. They gave us good updates. So yeah, we were really happy that they came on board. It was a nice surprise.
The day-to-day IT now from before is tons different. We have full Wi-Fi access for our residents, our staff, and we have full range of Wi-Fi throughout the building where we didn’t. Our bedrooms, all our bedrooms have Wi-Fi now. So we can have interactive games and sensory support right at people’s bedsides. We didn’t have that before. We also had digital care planning and digital medication systems. We couldn’t do it like we did before. We had to keep walking back to Wi-Fi zones just to be able to sign off meds. Now we can just take our trolleys and go, and it saves time, and it makes the staff feel valued because we’re investing in systems and a company who really cares.
I would say to any home in Merseyside, even wider, go with an IT company like Focus. If not Focus, they are absolutely amazing. They are so responsive and they keep us safe, keep our residents safe and happy. Pick Focus. I just wish we would’ve done it sooner because I felt that we were a little bit behind in the digital world. But now we’ve took that big step, and we don’t regret it. We fully, fully respect Focus as a company, and we hope that we have many more years of a successful partnership together.
Matron and Registered Manager: from a one-man band to a whole team
Hi, I’m Michael. I’m the Matron and Registered Manager of St. Bartholomew’s Court Nursing Home in Huyton, which is in Liverpool. We’re a standalone charity and we specialise in intermediate care and gold standards framework for end-of-life care.
Before partnering with Focus, our IT was sporadic, disjointed and slow. Staff were making do with what they had, but not through lack of effort, just through a poor infrastructure and a terrible Wi-Fi connection. Our previous IT provider was a one-man band. He was personable and reliable, but not really built for the 21st century.
The moment it crystallised for me was I was on a Teams call to safeguarding, and I couldn’t access any of the records, so it was quite embarrassing. We needed to be able to share information, and it was a real struggle to do so, whereas the new Wi-Fi and the new infrastructure that we’ve got makes everything a lot clearer and a lot easier
This is particularly important when somebody may be end of life and their daughter lives in Australia, so we can connect them together much more safely and consistently so they can say their final goodbyes.
Don’t underestimate good IT support. If there’s anything I wish we could’ve done sooner is that we’d have joined Focus earlier. The changes and the impact it has to staff, residents, and their families is insurmountable.
Three versions available: the full story, Gemma’s story and Michael’s story.
Download whichever is most relevant to you.
FULL CASE STUDY
The complete St Bartholomew’s Court story: Wi-Fi black spots, a retiring one-person provider, and a home now connected room by room.
GEMMA’S STORY
How better Wi-Fi changed day-to-day life for residents and staff, from bedside meds rounds to video calls with family.
MICHAEL’S STORY
Why a charity-run nursing home moved on after 25 years, and what a whole team of IT Support specialists has meant for care.
Care homes rely on Wi-Fi for digital care planning, electronic medication systems and keeping residents connected to their families. Focus gave St Bartholomew’s Court full Wi-Fi coverage across the building, so staff can sign off meds at the bedside and residents can video call loved ones from their rooms.
Poor Wi-Fi slows down care planning and medication rounds, and leaves residents cut off from family. At St Bartholomew’s Court, staff had to walk back to Wi-Fi zones to sign off meds. Now they take their trolleys straight to residents, which saves time and supports better care. Residents can also video call loved ones and enjoy sensory support from their rooms.
A one-person provider can be personable and reliable, but when they are busy, away or retiring, there is nobody else to call. St Bartholomew’s Court had the same provider for 25 years. With Focus, they have a whole team behind them, so issues are picked up and resolved quickly.
Not when it is planned properly. Focus kept St Bartholomew’s Court informed about when engineers would arrive, tidied up after every visit and kept disruption to residents, staff and care processes to a minimum.
Yes. Secure, reliable systems support consistent care planning and medication records in line with CQC regulations, and cyber security keeps resident and staff data safe.
