Two giants of the care sector have just announced that they are joining forces to create a digital superstructure which could transform the lives of an estimated quarter of a million people living and working in the industry.
In a move which will set a new standard for social care in the UK through enhancing the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of care home residents and those working in care, Person Centred Software, the provider of the UK’s most widely used digital care planning system, has acquired Oomph Wellness, the country’s leading wellbeing business for older adults.
The acquisition means that more than 5000 care homes will be able to access a multi-functional digital platform providing a whole range of services from clinical best practice to activity-based programmes designed to promote a longer, healthier and happier life. There are also plans to roll out the system across other care sectors internationally.
Working in both care homes and community settings, Oomph offers a variety of services and provides training and support to staff in around 1200 care homes throughout the UK. The London-based multi-award-winning social enterprise has a wellbeing platform for staff and residents containing. a whole world of resources and support, including activity ideas, exercise inspiration and training tools.
PCS also supplies the care sector with solutions that improve residents’ wellbeing and care outcomes. The UK-based global technology company offers a wide range of products and services, including the UK’s most widely used Digital Care Planning System (Digital Social Care Record), used by over 3,500 care providers throughout the UK.
PCS’s other products also focus on digitalising care. They include ATLAS eMAR (an alternative to paper-based MAR charts), a visitor management system (Digital Reception), a Maintenance and Asset Management tool, a Nursecall Messaging Service, Joined Up Care services, such as NEWS2 and GP Connect and much more!
With PCS’s digital care solutions, the company demonstrates its commitment to championing social care.
For nearly eight years, PCS and Oomph have been working together, incorporating Oomph’s activities into PCS’s Digital Care Planning system, enabling joint customers to evidence their resource usage. Currently, care home providers need to log in to multiple systems, but with the acquisition, there is now an opportunity to move towards a seamless user experience. In addition, Oomph’s content teams will be able to react to data shared in the digital care system, increasing the impact and value of using both systems combined.
The combination of systems now enables care providers to measure the impact of health outcomes, activities, and wellbeing.
Oomph on-demand has focused primarily on resident wellness – but thanks to a new partnership with Teladoc health, a multinational telemedicine and virtual healthcare company, Oomph will be able to bring expert content that links care and wellness together to improve care workers’ quality of life even more.
Bringing Oomph under the same banner will enable PCS to develop further innovative solutions that will allow care providers to take part in meaningful activities and interactions regularly throughout the day, bringing activities as part of every interaction, supporting staff development, and demonstrating the impact of wellness on physical and mental wellness.
The majority of the Oomph team will become part of PCS and focus on the Oomph product set with the opportunity to migrate to other areas of the business.
Andrews Coles, CEO of PCS, says: “Our mission at Person Centred Software is to improve the lives of those living and working within care home communities across the globe. Adding the Oomph product and team to the portfolio further drives us towards this goal. Oomph is another piece of the ecosystem of care jigsaw that focuses on the wellness of mind, body and soul.
By combining wellness and digital care, we will be uniquely positioned to bring an innovative, cutting-edge solution to the market that pushes wellness to the forefront of the agenda. In addition, combining care and wellness information will further enrich lives and provide insight and evidence into the impact wellness has on the care outcomes of people who live in care. It is a truly exciting opportunity, and we welcome the Oomph team into the PCS family”.
Ben Allen, Founder of Oomph, says: ‘’The training we provide to care home staff over the last decade has focused on improving the lives of older people through delivering engaging, meaningful and highly impactful exercise classes and group activities.
We have worked closely with PCS for a number of years, most recently on the integration between Oomph on-demand and PCS, which allowed us to learn more about each other’s businesses in terms of how we can work together to impact and improve the quality of life positively.
The care sector is highly fragmented, and that fragmentation is unfortunately felt within the supplier sector too, which ultimately creates a poor experience for care workers. However, the partnership with PCS will provide a unique chance to offer a single interface to an ecosystem of services in a way that will make a real difference.’’
Ben Allen joins PCS to support a successful transition of new products into the business as PCS enters its next growth phase, exploring new opportunities in wider territories and more innovative solutions for the market.
Oomph, now owned by PCS, will continue to work with all existing and new partners to ensure care providers have flexibility around the systems they want to use.
PCS continues to solidify its position as a one-stop solution for care providers. It’s the only company offering care providers a complete ecosystem of care with an unrivalled selection of best-in-class partners, raising the standard for digital solutions to the care sector beyond the traditional digital care planning system.
For more information on Oomph, please visit: www.oomph-wellness.org
Alternatively, for more information on Person Centred Software, please visit: www.personcentredsoftware.com
