New research out today from Kepler Vision Technologies, a global provider in computer vision monitoring technology, shows a growing divide between how public and privately owned care homes have improved following the coronavirus pandemic, with NHS run facilities outpacing their private counterparts.
NHS Care Versus Private Sector Care
In a survey of UK adults with parents over the age of 75*, 60% of people with parents in NHS care homes believe that the quality of care has improved, compared to 49% of respondents with parents in private care facilities. The main reason for this across both types of facility was more capable care staff, (with 50% of respondents seeing this as the most important factor) followed by better monitoring systems (at 49%).
However, this positive outlook is reversed among respondents with parents who are not in assisted living facilities. Only 35% of people who have parents not in care believe that NHS facilities are improving, vs 32% who believe it is only improving in the private sector. In fact, among those people with parents living alone or with them, only 18 percent showed confidence that care home staff are able to look after residents to a good standard.
Budget Cuts Undermine Confidence in Care Homes
This opinion is based on perceived budget cuts and financial pressures, with 67 percent of people in the UK commenting that a lack of funding has had a negative effect on care in both NHS and private care facilities. Whether planned or as a result of financial challenges, over half of all respondents (55 percent) admitted to having family money saved specifically to pay for the future care of their elderly parents.
Dr Harro Stokman, CEO of Kepler Vision Technologies said: “While it is good to see that people recognise the importance of staff and face-to-face interaction in elderly care, the huge gap in opinion between those with parents in care and those without shows that there are unfair negative perceptions around the residential care space. More can and should be done by care homes to give people the confidence that their relatives will receive the very best care – by highlighting the excellent work of staff and how well they are able to monitor resident’s needs with easy-to-use technology.”
When it comes to the concept of “good care”, a definitive 49% of respondents stated that face-to-face time with staff is the most important factor, with the second most important being regular safety checks from nursing care staff. Kepler Vision’s Night Nurse solution is designed to alert relevant staff or carers immediately to elderly people that have experienced a fall, reducing the chances of injury and health complications, and relieving pressure on care staff by making sure they only need to respond to legitimate problems.
About Kepler Vision Technologies
Kepler Vision Technologies is a Dutch company which uses artificial intelligence to look after the well-being of humans at night through vision-based human activity recognition software. According to the company, Kepler Vision’s mission is to make the job of nurses operating in elderly care homes less stressful and more enjoyable by allowing them to focus on providing care – not chasing false alarms and writing endless reports.
To achieve this Kepler Vision’s Night Nurse solution analyses live video streams, recognizing if and when clients need care and informing staff accordingly. Kepler Vision Technologies is a spinoff company from the University of Amsterdam. To date, it has received investment from organisations including UvA Ventures and the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs totaling over €3.9 million.
The company is headquartered in Amsterdam and employs 15 people with expertise across machine learning, computer vision and healthcare.
The company website is here: https://www.keplervision.eu/
