The Brief
A care home manager in Oldham needed to replace multiple compliance spreadsheets with a single dashboard. They tracked staff DBS checks, first aid training, medication administration training, fire safety training, food hygiene, manual handling and safeguarding — 7 different types of certification across 25 staff members. The spreadsheets were becoming unreliable and audit preparation took a full day.
Day 1 — Requirements and Design
A one-hour video call to understand exactly what they tracked, how they tracked it and what they needed from the new system. I mapped out the data model — staff members, qualification types, individual records with dates and expiry logic. We agreed on the dashboard design: a matrix view showing every staff member against every qualification type, colour-coded green/amber/red.
Day 2 — Core Build
Built the database, user authentication system, staff management (add, edit, view profiles) and the qualification tracking system. Each qualification record stores the type, issue date, expiry date, certificate number and an optional file attachment for scanned certificates. The automatic expiry calculation was built with configurable alert periods.
Day 3 — Dashboard, Alerts and Export
Built the RAG dashboard showing the compliance matrix. Red cells are immediately obvious — you cannot miss them. Added automatic email alerts that run daily and send notifications for any qualifications expiring within 30 days. Added CSV export that generates a comprehensive compliance report for CQC inspectors — one click, professional format.
Handover
Recorded a 15-minute Loom video walkthrough showing the manager how to add staff, record qualifications, read the dashboard and run reports. She migrated her data from the spreadsheets over the weekend and has been using the system since. Audit preparation went from a full day to 10 minutes.
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