This organisation provides its care staff with a schedule of visits, which provides for some flexibility insofar as each set of work tasks always needs to be completed fully and to the satisfaction of the service user. This can sometimes result in the schedule being disrupted or delayed.
This organisation also operates on the basis that a degree of trust must be placed in staff to carry out their work satisfactorily and that it encourages transparency and honesty in their use of time. It expects staff to communicate any difficulties that they experience, e.g. in travelling and in obtaining entry to a service user’s home.
The organisation’s Missing Persons Policy and Service User’s Home Security Policy address the main contingencies in which visits might not be completed as scheduled or result in delays; these can disrupt the rest of the worker’s schedule.
In all of these instances, the care worker is expected to contact their supervisor, line manager or office at the earliest opportunity and to discuss appropriate ways of proceeding.

This policy makes clear this organisation’s expectations concerning the completion of worksheets used to record the making of a call or visit to a service user’s home, and the accountability of staff with regards to their conduct using social networking sites. The policy includes how this organisation monitors staff working patterns and the actions that it takes if it discovers that staff have been falsifying records, e.g., by recording that they have made a visit when, for some reason, it has not been made. The need for such a policy has arisen because of a (hopefully small) number of publicised incidents in which domiciliary care workers have been known to have falsified time or worksheets.

The policy applies to all care staff who have a schedule of visits and who need to record accurately the fact that:

It is an integral part of our monitoring policies that we explicitly include electronic call monitoring as part of the process. Electronic data monitoring is a routine part of adult social care and is often part of contractual arrangements between providers and local authority (LA) or health service commissioners.

For clarity, electronic monitoring covers the following:

The data collected from any electronic monitoring system/device is used, handled, shared, and stored subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Staff, during their induction training, are made aware of the use of any such devices and where appropriate are trained in its use.
Service users are informed during their assessment of the purpose and use of any system and its use is covered in their contractual arrangements with the organisation.
Where the use of any electronic system is part of the local authorities or health service contract, this will be covered within their contract.
Any updated versions of such electronic systems will be installed by the provider or LA or health service commissioners: whoever is the provider of the system.

Appraisal
Code of Conduct for Workers
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and (DBS) Referral
Internet, Email and Mobile Phone (Acceptable Use)
Supervision

Employee Handbook
Skills for Care: Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Social Care Workers
www.skillsforcare.org.uk

All staff, during induction, are made aware of the organisation’s policies and procedures, all of which are used for training updates. All policies and procedures are reviewed and amended where necessary, and staff are made aware of any changes. Observations are undertaken to check skills and competencies. Various methods of training are used, including one to one, online, workbook, group meetings, and individual supervisions. External courses are sourced as required.

Date Reviewed: May 2021
Person responsible for updating this policy: Carly Fortune
Next Review Date: May 2022