The care minister, Caroline Dinenage recently stated that care homes need to prioritise Wi-Fi to make sure grandchildren come to visit, so what happens if you don’t have strong Wi-Fi in your care home?
Speaking at an event in London, the minister claimed that not enough homes allowed their residents to access Wi-Fi, which she thinks could help older people stay in touch with their families while encouraging younger members to come and visit more often.
On top of this, two recent surveys revealed that Wi-Fi is top of the agenda when it comes to lifestyle priorities when potential residents are looking for a care home. A strong wi-fi connection topped the poll, beating a garden in the priorities! With currently only 1 in 5 care homes offering free Wi-Fi to residents and guests, it’s time that owners embraced the digital age and installed wi-fi.
What many care home owners will not realise is that standard domestic wifi is not suitable and could cause many issues within a care setting. Not only will it cause a slow connection leading to frustrated carers, residents and families, but it can also cause a number of compliance issues. With GDPR and data protection of such high priority, an unsecure Wi-Fi connection can lead to loss of personal data, medical records and more!
It’s not just care homes that are at risk, with technology proving an ever growing part of domiciliary care businesses. Keeping service user’s personal data and medical records secure while carers are out on the road is paramount to meeting regulations. A strong specialist network of mobile phones or tablets can ensure that data is stored centrally and securely, whereas carers using their own devices can lead to infringement of the GDPR and data protection laws.
For expert advice on any of your telephone and internet services, please feel free to contact a member of our expert team on 01273 424 904 or info@qcis.co.uk
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