Helen McArdle Care monitors staffing across a multi-site operation with biometric time and attendance system

(29/10/2008)

Helen McArdle Care operates five residential care homes for the elderly and a further five homes are scheduled to open in 2009. Helen McArdle Care provides twenty four hour, year round care and needed to be assured that this care was in place at all times and that the correct balance of qualified staff were on duty at all locations. The company recognises a duty of care to its residents and management needed to be aware that this duty was being discharged at all times.

The company needed to monitor staff attendance at all five care homes from head office to assure themselves that staff listed to work had actually turned up and that the correct mix of skills was in place. Throughout the organisation from managers to cleaners, staff were on different pay scales.

Senior management at Helen McArdle Care required a simple to operate time and attendance system which would allow them to see at a glance who had worked at which care home, where and for exactly how long. Helen McArdle Care has become the first care home group in the UK to specify a biometric time and attendance system to monitor staffing across a multi-site operation.

Following discussions with Helen McArdle Care management team UKB International recommended the FP3000 system, networked to a dedicated PC located at each care home administration office. The FP3000 is a fast, reliable scanner suitable for high volume applications. The scanner does not store actual fingerprints, rather it recognises minutiae points on the finger and converts these into Data which is encrypted and then stored for future comparison. Staff register their finger once at their place of work, then simply place their finger on the scanner located by the door when arriving at or leaving work.

The networked PC provides accurate up to the minute reports of staff clocking on and off, with irrefutable evidence of attendance which eliminates potential disputes. These reports provide the basis for payroll calculations. Pay-per-minute payroll calculations provide an incentive for good timekeeping and prevent over payment for time not worked, thus demonstrating a return on investment.

Helen McArdle Care Finance Director Nigel Dawson says: “The system is simple for our staff to use since they do not need to write working times in a record book or to remember swipe cards, pins or fobs. With many managers and staff at five locations it is essential we can manage time and attendance both to ensure we provide a high level of suitably qualified care, and to ensure accuracy of the payroll. The management reports generated by the FP3000 provide snapshot data with the ability to quickly drill down for detail. In the residential care home business an awareness of staffing levels at all our locations is vital and the UKB International solution has provided us with this capability”.

UKB international Sales Director Steve Barnard says: “We are delighted to have helped pioneer the use of biometrics in the care home sector with Helen McArdle Care. Biometric technology is the ideal choice when management need pinpoint accuracy in terms of staffing data”.

Related topics:  Building access control system   Fingerprint biometrics 

Print version | Email to a friend | Related articles

Data breaches: Trends, costs and best practices gives you all the latest information on securing personal and corporate data, key recommendations for immediate action to improve data security, and how to respond to data breaches.

Other Security news and resources