Home | Consultus Connect User Guide

connect.consultuscare.com - then when prompted, select 'Add To Home Screen' or 'Install App'. - an icon will now be placed on your device's home-screen.

If you need further guidance on Installing the App / Adding to your Homescreen - then please click on the link for your phone type below:

Installing Connect for Apple iPhone / iOS

Installing Connect for Android (Samsung, Google Phone etc)

Enabling Notifications

At the bottom of the app, by the app version number, click on:
'Click to enable notifications'.

It will say 'Notifications On':

You can then press 'Notifications On' to manage which notifications you want and which you do not. We would advise Managed Care Carers to have all notifications ON.

troubleshooting

If you have any technical problems or any queries relating to the app, device, or the internet connection available to you, please contact managedcare@consultuscare.com

Please also click here to have a look at Troubleshooting

diagram

1.1 Top of the screen

1.1 Top of the Screen

The Question Mark icon/button takes you to this user-guide page.

The Exclamation Mark Icon shows that there is critical information about the client - please click it to view the information.

Check In and Check Out Button - will appear on a handover day. See further information about Handovers at the bottom of this page.

2. Client Informatin

2. Client Information

Once logged into Consultus Connect you will find information about the client at the top in the light beige section. This is read-only information. There are separate Risk Assessments and Care Plans for each individual client if there is more than one client present in the household.

Client Profile - Care Plan - Risk Assessment - Consultant Updates

Consultant Updates - these are updates/information directly from your Care Consultant.

3. Care Points & Activites

3. Care Points & Activities

In the Purple section, this is where you log any ‘Care Points’.

Simply click on the ‘Care Point’, e.g, Visitor, Excursion, Meal/Drink, Recreation, Carer Break etc.

Fill-in the details and click Submit. If there are two clients within the household and if the option appears at the top of the screen, please select which client (or both) that the care point applies to.

When typing in Details/Notes, the box will expand to fit in all the text you will require.

Editing Care Points - you now have up to 15 minutes to edit a care point that you have submitted. You can do this by going to the Daily Record Log, locating the care point and clicking EDIT.

The Daily Care Record is the log of all Care Points that have been previously logged. You can select the date to view the log up to 6 weeks in the past.

You can also EDIT care points you have logged for up to 15 minutes after a care point is submitted.

Client Daily Summary – please provide an update for the client's family daily where possible.

Guidelines & Requirements for logging Care Points and Incidents.

Please log as much information as you can, including the following:

When client wakes up and goes to bed.
Personal care - including how much the carer has assisted, how much the client was able to do themselves.
All food and drink – both offered and actually consumed (including details of why the client declined something to eat/drink at that time, if relevant).
Medication
Visitors
Outings – where and who accompanied.
Telephone calls (this will mainly be incoming calls, but also any outgoing calls the carer needs to make to GP/pharmacy/other healthcare professionals). Where the client is on a private call, we do not expect the carer to find out the details of the call.
Toileting – including whether they were assisted or unassisted, any incontinence, pad changes, etc
Carer breaks
Night calls - should only be logged by day carers (including reason for call and how long it took to deal with).
Appointments (what, where, when, who accompanied).
Behaviour/mood – any noticeable changes in mood and any identifiable triggers.
Recreation – activities engaged in throughout the day.
Naps
Any concerns about the client (if the carer notices something unusual or not in keeping with their regular routine).
Physio exercises – carried out/refused and any comments on how the client managed with them.
Incidents
Client Money - Please obtain receipts for all purchases, log all expenditure and any top-ups to petty cash/client money. Please check money or purse against the balance shown in 'Client Money' on Connect.

You can also make an 'Adjustment' to the balance by clicking the Adjustment button and entering a postiive or negative amount.
Expenses (see below: Expenses & Extra Hours )

CNA

3.1 The Care Plan / Care Needs Assessment

As of December 2023, Connect now contains the full Care Needs Assessment for the client.

The Care Needs Assessment is now fully acccessible and kept up-to-date on Connect.
Click on the 'Care Plan' button to view the care needs assessment details.

Contained within are the following buttons & sections:

About The Client
Medical
Personal Care
Nutrition
End of Life
Safety/Well-Being
Sensory Impairments
Day/Night Routine
Smart Goals
Mental Capacity Assessments
Specific Care Plans
Care Passport
Household - Equipment
Household - Domestic Tasks
Household - Other Contacts
Household - Calendar

A few things note:

Smart Goals - these are set with your care consultant. They are some achievable goals to aim for with the client.

Specific Care Plans - these are setup by the care consultant if the client requires them. Such things as Diabetes & Parkinsons.

Care Passport - the care passport pulls in information from the care plan, to summarise some of the key information from the care plan into one place.

Calendar - the calendar now contains the Weekly Schedule. See below for more information on the calendar.

If you have any queries at all about the new care plan, please speak to your care consultant.

4. Medication

4. Medication

Here is where to log medication administered. Please be aware this is not exclusively medication that you may administer, however it will be clear on the screen what needs to be logged, whether carer-administered or
client administered, or even logging Blood Sugar Level testing.

When you select/press the medication button, the screen shows that day’s medication.

Be sure to select the correct Client at the top of the screen if there is more than one present in the household.

There are buttons at teh top to select either Scheduled or PRN medications.

Today's Doses Due are shown, including the dose number. DOSES MUST BE RECORDED IN TIME ORDER.

Once a dose is recorded, it will disappear from the screen, meaning you always know what doses are remaining for that day.

Doses in Pink are DUE / OVERDUE.

If the Record Dose button is faded then you need to record a previous dose first.

Doses that are grey are not yet due.

Record Dose - click this button to record a dose.

When you click Record Dose you will see further information:

Route
What is the drug for?
What are the possible side-effects
Special Instructions

For PRN medications, click the PRN button at the top of the screen.

For PRNs, previous doses recorded that day are shown. The colour-coding relates to the Outcome (fully taken/not observed/offered) & Reason that you can now log when recording a PRN dose.

The colours are the following:

Fully taken is GREEN
Not Observed is ORANGE
Offered (not taken) in RED

The PRN Record a Dose screens looks like the following:

Medication Errors - you can now log Medication Errors.

Medication errors should be logged if:

you have missed medication
you have given medication but didn't record at the time of giving
refusal of medication.

Consultants may also follow-up any medication concerns after viewing the EMARs with you and will ask you to complete a medication error form if required.

You can now UPLOAD or TAKE PHOTO of the paper eMAR when logging a medication error (when you've been unable to log the medication at the time on Connect):

Medication Stock Check
Medication stock checks are to be completed every Monday and at every handover. Please include all types of medication currently in use (tablets, creams, inhalers, etc). If your client is using a medication that does not appear on the list, please inform your regional consultant immediately.

New/Change Medication

When a new medication prescription is given or a change to a current prescription, please provide details and upload a photo of the description.

Expenes

5. Expenses & Extra Hours

These buttons are within the main care point button area:

Expenses

To claim for client expenses, you must keep all receipts and upload them with the claim.

Any type of expense for the client such as client travel and client food all come under client expenses, please do not claim client mileage under the travel claim section.

Please ensure you upload all relevant receipts. This needs to be done ASAP to ensure your payments can be processed.

Food Allowance

To claim food allowance, you just need to enter the amount of days you are claiming for, and you can only claim for the days you have worked in that week. If you are in the booking for longer, then you will claim the rest in the following weeks in the same way.

Please only use the food allowance section if prior agreed with your consultant.

Travel – Please read this section carefully

Travel is still capped at £80 per booking. All travel should be uploaded to Connect on the day of travel. Any travel not uploaded by the deadline will not be paid on the following week.
When claiming for travel, you need to do a separate claim for each expense as you can only upload one receipt per claim.
If you have travelled by car, then click on 'Mileage', and enter the miles from your start and end point. We will calculate the payment due to you.
If you have travelled by taxi, please ensure you obtain a receipt as when choosing public transport, it will require you to attach your receipt. Enter the amount, add any details, and upload your receipt.
If you have travelled by train or bus, go to 'Public Transport', enter the amount, add any details, and upload all receipts. We recommend that if travelling by train you take a clear image of the ticket before you start travelling as the ticket machines regularly keep the ticket at the end of your journey. We do not accept collection receipts as these do not detail where you are travelling from and to. The same goes for bank statements, these are not accepted as proof of purchase.
If you have travelled by TFL, please note that we also cannot use your bank statement as it does not detail the journey or the date of travel. Please create an online account with TFL, using the bank details of the card you intend to use; we can then accept a copy of the TFL statement which you can get online.

Please note for travel leaving the booking, you only have up until midday the day after you have left the booking to enter any travel and upload any receipts. After this time has passed, we cannot reimburse any expenses.

Extra Hours

As well as logging your night calls by using the Night Call care point, you need to ensure that you go to Extra Hours care point to claim for them.

Your night calls and missed breaks will now be paid in 30-minute increments.
Please enter in these increments.
Please ensure you are entering the calls each day, so they are on the relevant day.
Please only claim for missed breaks if prior agreed with your Consultant.

Reminder: The ‘Night Calls’ extra hours sub-category must be used in addition to the existing Night Calls care point. Please continue to log night calls as usual under the night call care point.

Please always complete the details box with an explanation when using these two care points

The Regional Consultants will be reviewing all these care points and authorising all expenses and extra hours so please ensure these are recorded correctly and submitted.

We will continue to send you protected timesheets detailing your earnings each week, but they will look slightly different.
Your pay will still reach your account on Mondays.
Please refer to each section above for deadlines.
If you have any questions regarding entering the information in Connect, please contact your relevant Consultant.
If you have any questions regarding pay, then please contact the finance department.

Consultus Documents & Policies

6. Consultus Documents & Policies

You will find here the Consultus Carer Handbook and other important policy and procedure documentation.

Handovers

7. Handovers

The incoming carer will be prompted to 'Check In' on arrival (please note that the incoming carer is unable to submit care points until checking in).
The outgoing carer will then be prompted to complete an 'Outgoing Hand Over'. This takes the form of a series of confirmational questions relating to the client & the household, to acknowledge that the incoming carer has been made aware of certain things, it's essentially a checklist.

Once the outgoing carer handover is complete, the incoming carer is then prompted to complete an 'Incoming Hand Over'. From here the incoming carer can provide feedback & comments on the handover given.

The outgoing carer is now prompted to 'Check Out'. (outgoing carer is then unable to submit any further care points).

Handover Notes - Care Point Button

Additionally:

Use the Handover Notes button to provide important notes and information about the client for the next carer looking after the client. You can submit these notes – as many times as you need - at any time during your own booking with the client. However we would advise that you submit these in the last week or two of the booking.

The next carer will then be able to go to the Daily Record Log and filter by Type: Handover Notes – to see all the handover notes you have submitted:

Bookingfeedback

8. Booking Feedback

You can leave feedback (-5 to 5 rating) here, this option becomes available two days after leaving the booking (you will receive a reminder notification if you have notifications are enabled).

Any feedback from you about a booking will be very helpful, good or bad.

Go to Bookings in the Connect app - see below for how to leave feedback:

Calendar

9. Client Calendar

Connect now has a calendar that is accessible and visible to yourself as the carer, as well the client family and Consultus Care Consultant. Everyone who has access can also add calendar entries.

You can only edit and delete entries that you have originally entered into the calendar. If you believe something needs changing or removing, please let your Care Consultant know.

To make an entry, just double-click/double-tap the calendar and provide the necessary details.

Category: You can select whether the entry is 'at the client's home' or at 'another location'. Each of these shows an icon on the calendar so that you can quickly tell if something is at home or at another location.

Select the category:

How this shows on the calendar: (House icon and Arrow icon)

Calendar Entry Colours:

Depending on who made the calendar entry, the colour will be different. So if it is:

the System (i.e. a Booking) then it is RED.
Care Consultant it is GREEN
Carer is
Client/Client Family is

Final Notes:

Only the Care Consultant can add re-ocurring items. (Such as the weekly schedule). If you need a re-occurring item i.e. something that happens every week, every month etc, then please let your Care Consultant know and they will add it for you.