Tips On Managing Staff Leave At Your Home

Tips On Managing Staff Leave At Your Home

No matter the time of the year, Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn, you’re always going to have holiday leave requested by your staff – whether it’s to enjoy the hot sun, a special event or just for a break.

Absences from work are often the cause of stress and last-minute panic for Care managers across England. If it’s last minute, where are you going to find a qualified Nurse/Carer with such short notice? Even if you’ve got time to prepare, what happens if no one can cover? So let us discuss staff leave and how to manage it within a care home setting.

Figure Out How Long They’ll Be Gone For

For holidays, this is an easy one! Simply look at how long they’ve asked for as staff leave, and you’ll know how long you’ll need cover for.

However, for illnesses and unplanned absences, this can be a lot harder to estimate.

With COVID-19 symptoms, you may have to prepare for the worst at very short notice, with isolation for the worker and possibly more if they’re still feeling the effects after this period. If it is just a ‘common’ flu or illness, it may be best to take a day by day approach and ask them to keep you updated on their recovery.

Other unplanned absences, such as a death in the family, can be sensitive issues, so the last thing you want to do is to be pestering them when they’ll be back. In these situations, it’s best to have an honest conversation with them (when they’re able to) and figure out how long they feel they need off. This allows you to at least have some kind of understanding of how long you will need to get cover for, and know that you may need cover their staff leave for longer.

What Were Their Roles

Whether it’s a Nurse or Healthcare Assistant that is taking staff leave, all staff play an important role in providing care for those who need it!

To ensure you’re able to fully cover for them, you should consider things such as their shifts, role, and what tasks they usually carry out on a day-to-day basis

Once you’ve worked this out, you can get a much better idea of the type of person you need to provide cover for staff leave.

Will Getting Another Member Of Staff To Cover Be Too Much Work For Them?

In order for Nurses and Carers to be able to give the best possible care to residents, it’s important that they aren’t overworked! On paper, extra hours and pay may sound great to someone, but will it be worth the toll it takes on them? Staff are still recovering from the toll of Covid-19

Even the best members of staff can make mistakes when they’re overworked, which can have terrible consequences, especially in the care industry. Even the CQC has remarked in their latest State of Care publication

“In a report to Parliament, the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee said that the NHS and social care services now face the greatest ever workforce crisis. Sickness, vacancy and turnover rates are having a deep impact. In its report, the Committee went on to conclude that persistent understaffing in the NHS poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety, both for routine and emergency care, and that shortages in social care are even worse than they are in the NHS.”

So, whilst it may be very appealing to use your in-house talent, make sure you’re not running the risk of overworking them before you ask them to cover an extra shift or two!

Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can’t get an in-house member of staff to do some shifts, and get somebody else to do the others!

What To Do If You Still Don’t Have Enough Cover?

If after asking around, you still don’t have enough staff to cover the absence, then don’t panic – that’s why we’re here! Outsourcing an extra pair of hands, whether it be for one shift or multiple, really is as easy as picking up the telephone.

Here at Medilink Nursing, we’re able to offer quality Nurses and Carers to help ensure your residents get the care and attention they deserve, whilst preventing your staff from being overworked. No matter what you need, who you need, or for how long you need them, we have the staff available in your area who can cover staff leave. Our staff are highly skilled, upto date on their training skills and all of our staff have previous UK experience so that they can step straight in and cover staff leave and know what to do.

What Cover Can You Get From Medilink Nursing?

We offer cover to suit every need, including:

Last-Minute Bookings

As we discussed, staff shortages can happen at any time, for any reason! If this happens to you, we’re here to help. Our team will do their very best to find you cover on short notice to ensure you can relax, and remain focus on your tasks at hand.

Block Bookings

Do you have a member of staff who is going to off for a while, or want some extra support during busier periods?

You can make a block booking with us to cover as many shifts as you like, rather than deal with it on a shift by shift basis. Then you can put your mind at rest, knowing there is sufficient cover for the future!

Specialised 1-to-1 Care

As well as being able to provide general care and support, we also have Carers and Nurses who are specialised in providing dedicated 1-to-1 support.

They have undertaken the necessary training and experience to be able to ensure anyone under their care receives the support and attention they deserve, no matter how long it is needed for.

Conclusion – Staff Leave

Staff leave does not have to be a problem if managed correctly. Staff who are refreshed and full of enthusiasm for their role are what every care home needs. Staff leave gives staff an opportunity to recharge their batteries and should be encouraged. Cover for staff leave is easy to get from us here at Medilink Nursing and we can offer agency staff at great rates.

How To Book A Nurse Or Carer

If you find yourself short of care staff due to staff leave, just give us a call! Our team is still available every day between 6 am until 10.30 pm to take your calls at our Head Office, on 0113 877 6383.

If you’d like to find out more about the services we have available, as well as the types of staff we have around your area, such as RGNs, RMNs, Senior HCAs and well as regular ones, you can call us on the same number!

Alternatively, you can always email us at care@medilinknursing.com, and we will reply to you as soon as possible.

If you ever want the hassle taken out of finding cover for your staff, Medilink Nursing is always here to help!