June 6th 2025
Melanie Dawson – Registered Manager at The Lawns Care & Nursing Home in Worcestershire has dedicated her entire career to care. Starting her nurse training at 18, she worked in complex care before becoming a home manager. Always curious about technology, she’s always been keen to find systems that streamline workflows and improve outcomes. So, when The Lawns, a 62-bed care home in the Heritage group, had the opportunity to bid for funding to trial a digital tool for fall prevention, Melanie saw a chance to transform night-time care. Falls have always been a concern, people expect you to prevent them completely but this is not possible with people who want to maintain mobility and independence, but with the right technology, she believed they could move from reacting to incidents to anticipating them. That’s what led to their trial of Ally Cares, an AI-powered acoustic monitoring system that detects movement and sound in real time.
The challenge
Falls during the night were triggering a concern. Traditional alert mats and chair sensors had become unreliable with residents learning ways to avoid them, staff could also unintentionally position them incorrectly. Adding to the burden regular night checks often disturbed residents’ sleep, further exasperating restlessness and poor sleep.
“It’s unsettling to wake up and see someone or hear someone in your room, its sets off a spider sense often leading to mobilising unsafely from bed,” Melanie explains. “We needed a more proactive and respectful way to monitor safety, but also to promote independence.”
The solution needed to work with their existing digital systems, be discreet in residents’ rooms, and provide real-time oversight for managers. And crucially, it needed to reduce workload of staff, not add to it.
Finding the right solution
The opportunity came in January 2023 via the local ICB, Hereford and Worcestershire digital team were offering funding support as part of a regional initiative by the Digitising Social Care Team Funded by Care England and the Department of Health and Social Care.
After reviewing and discussing the options, Melanie pushed for Ally.
“Some systems I felt increased workload, Ally ticked all the boxes.” Says Melanie “It’s in every room. It’s small, it’s not intrusive, and it works with our existing Person Centred Software digital care planning system so when carers are mobile with their handsets so are the alerts. As a manager, I can see what’s happening, how decisions are being made and where alerts are coming from without adding to workloads.”
With support from the NHS’s Digitising Social Care programme, Ally was installed in every room.
“The onboarding was smooth, the Ally team made sure to test the Wi-Fi prior to installation, trained our managers, and spent two nights supporting the night team. Which made a real difference.”
The results
Before installing Ally, The Lawns provided six months of falls data. Then they ran a trial with Ally in place for a further six months. The results were remarkable:
- 66% reduction in night-time falls overall
- 88% reduction in falls for high-risk residents
- 34% increase in uninterrupted sleep
- 6 additional hours per night freed up for personalised care
It also made a noticeable difference in staff experience. With Ally analysing resident movement and sound, carers could make informed decisions about how to respond. They weren’t doing constant, unnecessary checks disturbing residents just for the sake of it.
Melanie hadn’t expected the impact to reach so far. But after the Ally trial began, she started to notice changes during the day too.
“People were more awake, more alert, more involved. They were eating better, drinking more, joining in with activities. It was a real eye-opener.”
The benefits weren’t just for residents. Staff had more time and space to focus on the kind of care they wanted to give and were able to evidence the care they’d given.
Looking ahead and managing risk
Melanie recognises that tech can help manage a care home – but not eliminate risk. As she says: “In care, we can get caught up in fear. Fear of regulators, fear of blame. But we need to remind ourselves that risk can’t be eliminated. What we can do is create environments that better support people to live well.”
For The Lawns, Ally has become part of their wider vision to help enable people to live their best lives. It’s not about adding more technology for the sake of it. It’s about using the right tools to give staff more time, give residents better nights, and make every day count.
Melanie’s advice to fellow managers
“Don’t do everything at once. Take time to investigate, talk to other users – not just suppliers – and bring your team along with you. Coaching and clear goals make all the difference.”
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