Case Study: Reducing Paperwork by 70%
How Sunshine Care Home transformed their operations with CM-Plus form builder
About Sunshine Care Home
Sunshine Care Home is a well-established residential care facility specializing in elderly care and dementia support. Located in Essex, they pride themselves on providing personalized care with a strong focus on resident wellbeing and family engagement.
The Challenge: Drowning in Paperwork
Like many care homes, Sunshine Care Home was struggling with an overwhelming amount of paperwork. Manager Sarah Williams describes the situation before CM-Plus:
"Our care workers were spending more time filling out forms than actually caring for residents. We had forms for everything—medication administration, daily notes, incident reports, care plan reviews—and it was all on paper."
Specific Pain Points:
- Each care worker spent 2.5 hours daily on paperwork
- Over 25 different paper forms in regular use
- Forms often incomplete or illegible
- Data entry errors causing medication mistakes
- Lost forms affecting compliance audits
- Frustrated staff considering leaving
The Breaking Point
"The final straw was when we failed a CQC inspection because of incomplete documentation. We knew we had to make a change—our residents deserved better, and our staff were burning out."
The Solution: CM-Plus Digital Transformation
After researching several options, Sunshine Care Home chose CM-Plus for its user-friendly form builder and comprehensive care management features. The implementation was structured in three phases:
Phase 1: Core Forms Migration (Weeks 1-2)
Started with the most frequently used forms: daily care notes, medication administration records, and incident reports.
Key Features Implemented:
- • Auto-population of resident details
- • Mandatory field validation
- • Photo capture for incident documentation
- • Digital signatures for medication administration
Phase 2: Assessment Forms (Weeks 3-4)
Digitized comprehensive assessment forms including care plan reviews, risk assessments, and family communication logs.
Advanced Features Added:
- • Conditional logic for personalized assessments
- • Automatic risk score calculations
- • Integration with care planning system
- • Email alerts for urgent issues
Phase 3: Specialized Forms (Weeks 5-6)
Completed the transformation with specialized forms for activities, nutrition monitoring, and regulatory compliance.
Final Features:
- • Offline capability for outdoor activities
- • Automated compliance reporting
- • Family portal integration
- • Analytics dashboard for management
Staff Training and Change Management
Sarah Williams knew that technology is only as good as the people using it. The training approach was crucial to success:
Training Strategy
- • Small group sessions (4-5 staff)
- • Hands-on practice with real scenarios
- • Champion system with peer support
- • 24/7 helpdesk during transition
Change Management
- • Clear communication about benefits
- • Regular feedback sessions
- • Quick wins celebrated publicly
- • Continuous improvement based on input
"We made sure everyone felt heard. When care assistant Jenny suggested a better way to organize the medication form, we implemented it immediately. That showed everyone this wasn't being done TO them, but WITH them."
Training Results
The Results: Transformation in Numbers
Six months after implementation, the results exceeded all expectations. Here's what Sunshine Care Home achieved:
Time Savings
Quality Improvements
Staff Impact
Business Benefits
Most Significant Impact
"The biggest change isn't in the numbers—it's seeing our care workers smile again. They're not stressed about paperwork anymore. They're focused on what they love: caring for our residents. That's priceless."
Lessons Learned and Best Practices
Sarah Williams shares the key insights from Sunshine Care Home's digital transformation:
What Worked Well
- Starting with high-impact, frequently used forms first
- Involving staff in form design and getting their input
- Phased implementation rather than big-bang approach
- Champion system with peer-to-peer support
- Celebrating quick wins and sharing success stories
Challenges Overcome
- Initial resistance from long-term staff resolved through patient training
- WiFi connectivity issues fixed with network upgrades
- Tablet procurement delays solved with gradual device rollout
- Form complexity reduced through user feedback iterations
Top Recommendation
"Don't try to replicate your paper forms exactly in digital format. This is your opportunity to rethink and improve your processes. Ask 'what do we really need to capture?' and 'how can we make this easier for staff?'"
The Transformation Continues
Six months after implementation, Sunshine Care Home continues to evolve and optimize their digital processes. They've recently added family communication portals and are exploring AI-powered analytics for predictive care insights.
"CM-Plus didn't just solve our paperwork problem—it transformed how we think about care documentation. We're now using data to improve care outcomes, not just tick compliance boxes. It's been a complete game-changer."
Ready to Transform Your Care Documentation?
See how CM-Plus can help you achieve similar results. Join hundreds of care organizations that have already reduced paperwork and improved care quality.