Document versioning
Policies in adult social care are living documents. They get updated when guidance changes, when a risk is identified, when an audit throws up a gap or simply when practice moves on, and every one of those changes needs to be traceable. CareStream versions every policy automatically, so each edit or approved change creates a new version without you having to remember to save a copy or rename a file.
That means you always have a full history behind every care home policy and nursing home policy, with clear dates and a record of who made each change. You can view earlier versions, compare what changed and restore a previous version if you need to, so nothing is ever lost and your policy history is always defensible.
Automatic versioning View any version Compare changes Restore previous versions
What It Is
A full, automatic history behind every policy.
Document versioning captures the state of a policy at every meaningful point in its life. Whenever a policy is edited or an approved change is made, CareStream saves that as a distinct version, keeping the older versions intact rather than overwriting them, and recording the date and the person responsible for the change.
This matters because policy history is evidence. Inspectors, auditors and your own governance want to know not just what a policy says today but how it got there, when it last changed and who signed that change off. Manual version control through renamed files and shared drives is fragile and easily broken, whereas automatic versioning gives you a reliable, continuous record of your policies and procedures in health and social care.
The Benefits
What it means for your service:
Keep a complete history of every policy without ever having to save copies by hand.
See exactly what changed between one version of a policy and the next.
Know who made each change and when, for every policy you hold.
Restore a previous version instantly if a change needs to be rolled back.
Show inspectors a clean, dated trail behind any policy they ask about.
Avoid the confusion of duplicate files and uncertain which version is current.
How It Works
How document versioning works.
Versioning runs quietly in the background, so you do not have to think about it. Every time a policy is edited or a change is approved, CareStream records a new version and files the previous one safely in the history.
When you need to look back, the full timeline is there. You can open any earlier version, compare it against another to see exactly what moved, and if necessary bring a previous version back as the current one, all from the policy itself.
01
Edit as normal
You work on your policy the way you always would, with no extra steps to save or preserve the old version.
02
A version is captured
Each edit or approved change automatically creates a new version, dated and attributed to whoever made it.
03
History builds up
Every version is kept in a clear timeline, so the full life of the policy is always visible.
04
View any version
Open any earlier version to read exactly what the policy said at that point in time.
05
Compare changes
Set two versions side by side to see precisely what was added, removed or reworded.
06
Restore if needed
Bring back a previous version as the live policy whenever a change needs to be reversed.
At A Glance
The essentials, in one place.
- Every edit or approved change creates a new version automatically
- Previous versions are preserved, never overwritten
- Each version records the date and the person who made the change
- You can view, compare and restore earlier versions
- Gives you a continuous, defensible policy history for inspection
Who it's for
Any care home, nursing home or care provider that needs a reliable, dated history behind its policies and procedures rather than a folder of renamed files.
Confidence at inspection
When an inspector asks how and when a policy changed, you can show the exact version history, dated and attributed, without hunting through drives or emails.
Why It Works
Nothing lost, everything traceable.
Policy governance falls down when version control is left to people to manage by hand. Files get renamed inconsistently, the wrong copy gets shared, and when a change is questioned nobody can prove what the policy said before or who altered it.
Automatic versioning removes that risk entirely. Because CareStream captures every version as it happens, with the date and the author attached, your history is always complete and always trustworthy, which is exactly what governance and inspection depend on.
Fully automatic
Every edit or approved change is captured as a version with no manual saving to remember.
Nothing overwritten
Previous versions are preserved, so your policy history is always complete and recoverable.
Dated and attributed
Each version records when the change was made and who made it, for every policy.
Compare and restore
See exactly what changed between versions and roll back to a previous one when needed.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Keep a defensible history behind every policy.
See how CareStream versions your policies automatically, so you can view, compare and restore any change with confidence.