The smarter way to manage care

Introducing Pebbles Care Limited

Pebbles Care Limited, are a provider of Therapeutic residential childcare in Scotland and England, providing high quality care for young people, including those with complex emotional and behavioural needs. As the organisation continued to grow, the need for a more cost-effective, connected, and user-friendly care management system became even more important. 

We spoke with Joy Wakenshaw (Head of Care, Scotland), Joe Smith (Registered Manager) and Jo-Anna McCulloch (Quality Improvement Manager), about their experiences with Clearcare. Alongside Joe and Jo-Anna, Joy played a key role in overseeing the work to create new recording templates across services in Scotland in preparation for the same process to take place in England.

The transition to Clearcare

Reflecting on the decision to join Clearcare and the transition to a new system, Joy mentioned that the company needed a more cost-effective, comprehensive, and connected system: “We were looking for a replacement system that was both cost-effective whilst also providing us with a wider range of resources and a better flow and connectivity in terms of the information.”

Joe expanded on this and mentioned that their previous system “wasn’t particularly helpful for creating workflows and tasks, and after a review of multiple recording systems, we decided to sign up to Clearcare”.

The transition itself was met with challenges, particularly in a sector where staff may not feel confident with technology. Joy acknowledged this by saying “it’s a huge task to move from one information system to another. The fear of the unknown can be quite intimidating to people”. 

To address these concerns, Pebbles Care focused heavily on planning, communication, and inclusivity. The organisation set out to empower staff at all levels to engage with the process, and continues to make weekly internal learning sessions available to staff, led by Jo-Anna and Joe.

The implementation process

Implementation began in Scotland and was driven entirely by Joe and Jo-Anna. Joy was clear about their commitment and mentioned “Their work included creating tailor-made forms aligned with Pebbles Care’s therapeutic approach, ensuring the system reflected the organisation’s values and language.”

Joe expanded on this and described how “in comparison to the previous system, the building of the forms was a lot easier. The drag and drop elements of the Clearcare form builder were really easy to use”.

Training and guidance

Joy was very positive about the training process with Clearcare and mentioned “the training from Clearcare was excellent and well                  co-ordinated…in the sessions I attended the trainers were very supportive, and all questions were answered. There were no silly questions.”

Joy highlighted that every home had a ‘Clearcare Champion’ assigned, to ensure the rollout was a smooth process. Weekly meetings were set up, allowing staff to ask Joe and Jo-Anna questions, share feedback and build confidence.

Outcomes and impact

Since going live, Clearcare has delivered clear improvements in workflow and information management. Joy highlighted the system’s structure and usability as major benefits: “It is a much more connected and logical way of gathering and storing information.”

From a management point of view, Clearcare has made it a lot easier to maintain. Jo-Anna expanded on this: “From a manager’s perspective, you can log in wherever you are. It now doesn’t matter where you are, you can access the live information. It makes it so easy and streamlines our processes”.

The system has enhanced oversight and quality assurance processes, and inspectors and quality improvement staff “can access information remotely, so that when they come into the homes, they can focus on engaging with the young people.”

A strong recommendation

Overall, the transition to Clearcare has been a success for Pebbles Care Ltd. Careful planning, a strong implementation team, and strong internal leadership were critical to this outcome. Joy said “It’s been a relatively easy transition, but planning is at the heart of it…we are delighted with it.”