This policy is intended to set out the values, principles and policies underpinning this organization’s approach to its waking and sleeping night staff. All waking and sleeping night staff must adhere to this policy, and failure to do so could result in disciplinary action.

The organization’s selection procedure aims to ensure that the most suitable candidate is chosen for waking and sleeping night duties and that, once selected, all personnel receive the training and support required to carry out their duties. All staff will operate within this organization’s recruitment, selection and employment procedures to meet the legislative and organizational requirements.

The hours for waking night staff will usually be 10pm – 7am.

The number of nights agreed will take the form of a rolling rota calculated over 14 days to comply with the Working Time Regulations 1998. A period of 12 consecutive weeks will be used to calculate the working time rules. The above hours will also be used for calculating annual leave entitlement. The use of the above hours for holiday purposes is where there is no variation in the hours over the (e.g.) 21 days period. If the hours do vary then a 52 week period would need to be used to calculate average holiday pay.

A full and comprehensive job description, updated regularly, lays out the duties expected of waking night duty. In addition, a comprehensive induction, which includes contact numbers and managerial support, forms a large part of the training for this post.

Duties may include the following:

By its nature, the sleep-in duty takes place overnight. It is generally the case that the duty has a handover period built into the working hours so that information sharing can take place.

Hours of duty are: 10pm-7am

Different workers have different sleep needs but 8 hours of the duty are assumed to be “sleeping hours.”

The duties associated with the sleep-in are detailed in the job description, but the emphasis is on security and protection of the service user and the premises are paramount. Where there are no other staff on duty access checks must be rigorous and robust. No one should access the premises during the sleep-in without an identity check and where necessary a telephone check to validate their identity. Any bogus callers should always be reported to the police immediately.
Dependent on the needs of the service user, several tasks lend themselves to being part of the duty. These include:
Laundry.
Ironing.
Turning out cupboards.
Meal preparation for the next day, or the freezer.
It is important to utilise the duty to the best advantage for the service user. An hour or two before bed or after rising, can be put to good use as this is still a working time window.
It is vital that as part of the Care Plan, security arrangements are agreed upon, and a routine established which secures the premises and protects the service users. This includes the worker being familiar with all aspects of alarm systems, emergency telephone numbers, exit and entry security access etc. this is especially important in Assisted Living, Retirement Apartments such as McCarthy and Stone, and Retirement only housing where there are set fire and evacuation procedures which must be followed. It is also important to note that the “Stay Put” fire safety evaluation is still in use in the appropriate premises, such as those mentioned and there are particular procedures concerning “Staying Put” which needs to be understood and known to the worker.

Any disturbances which occur regularly should always lead to a review of the sleep-in duty. A disturbance of an irregular nature e.g., sickness, late television viewing, visitors who stay later than normal etc. are one-offs and occur at some time in all households.
Regular disturbances such as illness, reaction to a medication, or the escalation of a condition such as dementia could lead to a re-assessment of needs, and whether temporary or permanent, a waking duty should be put in place.

It is important to assess the sleeping arrangements available to the worker. As part of the care plan, a risk assessment should be undertaken, which includes the sleeping facilities. In a short-term arrangement, particularly end-of-life situations, as long as there is a bed, whether it is a fold out chair, put up, etc. it is accepted that it is fine for a short time. However, workers need to be accommodated in a way that does not expose them to any long-term conditions, such as back problems. Long-term arrangements may mean negotiating with the family or commissioner of the service to ensure appropriate sleeping arrangements are in place.

To promote the safeguarding and protection of the service user, the holder of this post is subject to summary dismissal if found to be absent, or for waking night staff, asleep whilst on duty; ‘absent’ is taken to mean away from the premises without permission. Disciplinary procedures will be adhered to in this situation.

As part of their waking and sleeping night duties, staff must ensure that appropriate checks are undertaken before anyone is allowed into the home or premises, e.g., all visitors should be asked for some form of identification, including those from the local authority contracts monitoring service, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the police, and any representative from the utility sector.

All records should be where possible contemporaneously completed. The security check of the premises and any relevant incidents or accidents logs should be part of the record keeping requirements.
Sleep-in is no different from any other scheduled visit, it is simply longer. Daily record sheets should be completed as should any other form e.g., MAR, Fluid or Bowel Chart, as they normally are when in use. However, any sleep interruption episode should be recorded in detail in the daily records as this will assist, in an evidential way, in any decisions regarding any changes required in the Care Plan should the episodes become a regular pattern of disturbance.

All night staff will be made aware of their responsibilities regarding emergencies and the management support available to them during their shift.
It is the intention of this organisation to safeguard and promote the protection of the service user at all times and this part of the policy sets out the standards of work required by staff who undertake waking night or sleep-in duties.

Handovers should include both verbal exchange of information and the written information detailed above. The night worker should sign and date the forms on each handover.

The person carrying out the sleep-in duty must be fully briefed on the support available to them should there be an incident, and be fully aware of the steps to take in the event of a death of a Service user, out of hours procedure etc.

Out of Hours and who to contact via the On-Call system should be available to the worker. It is also helpful if there are any expected late visitors to the individual’s home, whether it is family or friends that the worker is made aware of such a visit, particularly where access may be constrained by an electronic entry system.

Adult Safeguarding
Out of Hours Emergency on-call
Fire Safety
Personal Safety and Lone Working
Premises, Environment and Access
Record Keeping
Recruitment Selection
Service user (Home Security)
Staff General, Welfare and Facilities

ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service):
www.acas.co.uk

GOV.UK Night working hours
https://www.gov.uk/night-working-hours

GOV.UK New Sleep-in shift pay compliance
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-sleep-in-shift-pay-compliance-scheme-launched-to-support-social-care-sector-and-identify-back-pay-for-workers

Code of Conduct for Healthcare Support Workers and Adult Social Care Workers in England Workers
https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Documents/Standards-legislation/Code-of-Conduct/Code-of-Conduct.pdf

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, individual supervisions and external courses are sourced as required.

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