On the cutting edge

With its expanding range of high-end care homes offering dementia specialist care in London, Loveday & Co is researching, trialing and adopting new innovative technologies.

Its recently launched Abbey Road care home is typical in offering innovative assistive technologies such as electronic care planning, pain assessment, medicine management, nurse call and acoustic monitoring systems, circadian lighting, falls prevention and continence sensors, and anti-bacterial technologies.

“I believe we have to invest completely and constantly in technology whether it is for us or it’s for other people because we are a small enough unit and have such a high staffing level that we can act as researchers,” Geller says. “If somebody wants to trial something we can do the measurements for them and the follow up.”

Geller has partnered with the University of West London, University of Stirling Dementia Services Development Centre and University of Roehampton on technologies that discreetly, yet dynamically, enhance people’s wellbeing, as well as co-founding the Westmont Enterprise Hub which encourages and incentivises innovation and start-ups.

He has also been asked by the government to lead the development of guidelines, research, innovation and technology for preventing and mitigating concussive impacts, which can damage the brain in sport, and which one day could also be rolled out in care homes.

“We will be able to measure every resident with a brain monitor when they come in and do their initial assessment and see whether they are deteriorating or not,” Geller explains. “That’s the sort of predictive analysis we intend to do.”

Geller highlights the use of biometric sensors that indicate abnormal heart rates, blood pressure and other matters as another area of predictive research being pioneered at Loveday & Co.

While acknowledging technology as a great enabler, Geller stresses it can never replace the core human element of care.

“I don’t think it can replace human judgement because we are all different,” the care home leader notes.

Geller identifies AI and robotics as demonstrating how technology can enhance but not replace human care.

“AI is going to be great, but at this stage to take away the need for me providing hands-on human care.”

He adds, however, that AI pain measurement is one area where technology can do things that humans can’t.

“A human cannot be as consistent as AI for measuring that type of thing,” Geller says. “Where the human comes in is where they take the pain assessment and interpret it, find anomalies and discover what’s causing it. AI can’t do that. You can’t yet get to the cause, but you can get to a reason to investigate the cause.”

Looking forward to what will be key to the successful roll-out of digital care in the future, Geller identifies staff training and sorting out the issue of who pays –whether that be government, families or the care provider.

With weekly fees of £3,000 upwards and an enviable EBITDARM profit margin of more than 40%, Geller says he was able and willing to invest millions in dementia research and technology but noted other providers may not be so fortunate, or so inclined.

“Our secret ingredient isn’t just technology – it’s people and passion and we have the time to do it and I am going to invest the money to try it,” Geller says.

“The University of West London is trying to take what we are doing and codify it for roll-out elsewhere. We can do it as a high-end and philanthropic care home operator, but whether you can do it on fees of £700 to £800, I just don’t know.

“We need a holistic and multidimensional national policy tasked with developing and implementing a bold, innovative and creative plan that pioneers technological advances and systems.”