Community Nurse Launches National Care Directory

Aug. 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Elaine Cullen a community nurse from Devon, UK with over 30 years experience in the NHS, Private Sector and running day care services has set up a business to help the process of finding quality care a lot easier for families and users of those needing care

There has been a lot of press surrounding the running and financial viability of care homes in the UK recently. The process of finding good quality care for a loved one or friend is causing alarm for many and with the demand for good quality care in the UK growing; demand is starting to outstrip supply.

Online care home directory Key Care Solutions identified that the process of finding the right care facility needed reviewing and should be easier, so in 2010 launched the ONLY directory in the UK that can advise immediately which care homes have vacancies. In some cases, for example after a fall or a stay in hospital, the need to find a care home becomes urgent, this new online search facility can tell you within minutes the homes that have available beds in a chosen area.

Historically the process of finding care homes online has been particularly difficult but the problem has not been addressed by other UK sites, making the search for the right home sometimes long and arduous and not particularly fruitful.

You can imagine the disappointment of finding a home, reading about its wonderful facilities and good CQC rating then only to find that when you ring them up to make an appointment there are no vacancies especially if you need a bed because your loved one or friend is due to be discharged from hospital imminently!

Key Care Solutions is the solution to such a problem; it can find available beds within minutes and offers practical help and support. Many people going in to care experience emotional trauma when leaving their home – the whole process can be emotionally exhausting for family and friends. Key Care Solutions was not only created to help match accommodation with the clients needs but also to give advice on the type of accommodation, facilities available, how care facilities are graded by the CQC and the web site gives visitors access to information about the many support organisations that exist such as Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, the Benefit Enquiry Line and CAB amongst others.

“The idea behind creating the website was to help people and their carer’s who were clearly struggling to find key information usually at a time of crisis and having to wade through a maze of information and confusing sites (including Government ones). We wanted to design a site which was extremely simple to use but very effective.” Said Elaine Cullen, Director at Key Care Solutions and an experienced nurse practitioner.

Elaine who has over 30 years’ experience in the NHS, private care sector and running day care services is well positioned to understand both the needs of the care sector and people accessing crucial services. Elaine went on to say, “I feel passionately, and am highly sensitive to the needs of our more vulnerable citizens and their carer’s. At Key Care Solutions we have a genuine desire to help support people to find the right care facility and to give them real choices.”

Pete Cullen, fellow Director at Key Care Solutions also commented, “The need for good quality care homes in the UK is growing rapidly, making the search for the right care facility for a friend or loved one harder than ever and in cases where a decision about going in to a home needs to be made quickly a ‘vacant bed locator’ facility is a God Send.  The service we offer at Key Care makes the process of finding a care home quick and simple. The focus on ‘matching the care environment to the clients needs’ becomes a lot easier with our service.”

Pete went on to say, “We are developing relationships with PCT’s and Local Authorities to support patients through the transition from hospital into care and we continue to provide a service to those wishing to move from their homes in to a care facility. And of course, we know that the cost of empty beds to care homes can be a cause for concern especially in the wake of recent stories in the press where confidence in the market is dropping to an all time low. We can support care homes now in a way that fills beds more cost effectively and efficiently than promoting a home on a site that does not offer its customers ‘real time’ results. I am interested to talk to any care homes or facilities wishing to feature on our web site.”

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Key Care Solutions is the leading 'real time' care home reference guide to over 22,000 care homes and adult day centres across Ireland and the UK. This website is unique in that it only displays care homes which have current room vacancies.