Care England today publishes a landmark report, From Routine Checks to Needs-Led Monitoring: Modernising Night-Time Care, demonstrating how acoustic and visual monitoring is transforming overnight care in England, reducing falls, saving thousands of staff hours, and delivering measurable benefits for the NHS.
The report, produced in partnership with Adaptive Care, presents real-world evidence from leading providers including Quantum Care, Riverside Lodge, and WCS Care, showing how traditional hourly night checks can be replaced with continuous, human-intelligence-led monitoring.
The results are striking, 8,000 hours were saved, and 900,000 virtual checks were delivered across six Quantum Care homes:
- 94,000 physical night-time checks were conducted over three months, and staff spent more than 8,000 hours walking rooms and performing routine checks under the traditional model.
- After acoustic monitoring was introduced, routine room entries dropped by 90%, staff time fell to just 483 hours, the system carried out over 900,000 virtual checks, all without waking residents unnecessarily.
This represents not just efficiency but a structural shift from reacting to schedules to responding to genuine need.
Fewer falls, fewer ambulances and less pressure on the NHS. The benefits extend well beyond care homes. WCS Care saw:
- 74.5% reduction in recorded falls, of which 9% being previously misidentified as falls, now reclassified due to the visual element.
- In one home alone, 44 paramedic callouts were avoided, an estimated saving to of £18,500 in three months to the NHS.
WCS Care, were also the first UK provider to implement a centralised acoustic monitoring hub seeing:
- 34% reduction in night-time falls
- 55% reduction in combined day and night falls
- 65% reduction when visual monitoring is added (with consent)
Improved sleep at night led to calmer days, improved cognition, and fewer hospital admissions, delivering system-wide positive impact across health and social care.
Dignity, not disturbance
Traditional hourly checks disturb essential sleep and often wake residents, particularly those living with dementia, increasing agitation, confusion, and fall risk.
At Quantum Care Riverside Lodge, the home manager reported; markedly calmer nights, improved resident wellbeing, strong reassurance from families and only one fall was recorded post-implementation, with no recurrence following alert refinement.
Residents are no longer woken unnecessarily, and staff respond only when real need is identified. This is not about replacing people with technology. It is about ensuring that professional judgement remains central with technology extending human capability, not substituting it.
A model aligned with reform
The report aligns directly with:
- The NHS 10-year Health Plan’s digital transformation agenda
- The shift toward prevention and community care
- CQC expectations under Safe, Effective, Caring, Responsive and Well-Led
Professor Martin Green OBE, Chief Executive of Care England, said:
“Night-time should not be a period of passive risk. It should be a time of dignity, rest and proportional oversight. This report shows that when care homes adopt needs-led monitoring, residents sleep better, falls reduce, staff time is used more effectively, and pressure on NHS and emergency services decrease. The evidence is clear. The question is no longer whether this works, it is how quickly we scale it.”
A call to government and commissioners
Care England is calling for coordinated action across the system:
- Providers to review routine hourly checks given the report findings
- Regulators to recognise evidence-led monitoring models
- Commissioners to recognise and fund outcomes-based safeguarding
- Government to support capital investment in modern night-time care
The report warns that expecting providers to absorb transformation costs alone while the NHS benefits from avoided admissions and callouts, is neither sustainable nor equitable.
The bigger picture
Over 300,000 care beds globally are already supported by similar monitoring systems. The UK now stands at a pivotal moment. With workforce shortages intensifying and demand rising, smarter, evidence-led models of care are no longer optional, they are essential.
To support those providing or commissioning care in understanding what best-in-class implementation looks like, Care England is offering tours to review the technology underpinning the system, widely recognised as being 10–15 years ahead of the UK in adopting care technology, risk-based approaches, and centralised monitoring models.
The visit for senior leaders provides access to leading Dutch providers, operational monitoring hubs, and the innovators behind the platform, offering practical insights into scaling, workforce transformation, and improving outcomes through needs-led care. Interested parties should contact: tours@adaptivecare.co.uk.
Image depicts the Care England logo