Over the past six months care provider Swallowcourt, in common with the whole of the health and social care sector, has faced significant challenges in maintaining the highest standards of care to the residents within its homes in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Swallowcourt operates Trevaylor Manor, Ponsandane and Poldhu, which provide elderly nursing care, and Breage House, Station Villa and Cross Keys, which provide specialist support to individuals with profound physical and learning disabilities.

Those care homes have worked tirelessly to provide care and support to some of the most vulnerable in our society, in the most challenging and pressurised of environments.

The Covid-19 pandemic emphasised that for some of Swallowcourt’s beautiful and historic homes, external links and ability to fully utilise technology were impaired by inadequate internet bandwidth.

In response to this, Swallowcourt has announced a partnership with the IT service provider, Aztek Business, to undertake a comprehensive upgrade of all IT connectivity in its homes.

Leah Marsh, MD of Swallowcourt, said: "Whilst we had planned to upgrade our systems over the coming years, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic highlighted to us the need for us to accelerate these plans.

"The upgrade to our IT infrastructure is a significant investment where we recognise that the digital transformation of our organisation will deliver the ability to improve the care we provide, reduce the administrative burdens on our staff and making more time to improve resident experience.

"Aztek Business completely understood our needs and timescales and have responded with bespoke solutions that will secure the communications and data needs of our business into the future.

Falmouth Packet:

Leah Marsh

“It is ironic that in our Poldhu Nursing Home is situated just metres away from the very place that Guglielmo Marconi sent the first wireless transatlantic signal in 1901 yet, almost 120 years later, we have struggled with wireless connectivity within the home.

"This extensive infrastructure project across all of our homes provides the foundation for sophisticated electronic care planning, medication administration and will also support our ability to work in harmony with our NHS partners, safely and securely sharing detailed medical information and enabling virtual health consultations.”

In addition, Specialist Services support individuals with profound physical and learning disabilities and the implementation of class-leading IT infrastructure paves the way for exciting developments in assistive technology that further promotes independence and meets specialist needs.

Anthony Hudson, MD of Aztek Business, said: "Aztek are delighted to be working in partnership with Leah and the team at Swallowcourt on delivering a modern day IT infrastructure and industry leading connectivity and communications.

"We look forward to supporting the Swallowcourt Group throughout this digital transformation project and beyond, with the knowledge and understanding that the project will make a real and lasting difference to the lives of both staff and residents within the homes."