Zaheed agonised over the rota for the week ahead. It was a maze of ongoing challenges – residents with complex care needs, cases that weren’t getting any simpler to manage, plus a handful of new arrivals yet to be assessed. Complexity isn’t what worries Zaheed.
After all, good care home managers are used to juggling priorities on an ever-tightening budget. What did concern him was empty slots in the rota where key members of staff were supposed to be.
That was when the phone rang. A nurse was down with illness. Not so bad, he thought, he might be able to plug the gap with a favour – until a second call came in.
Both staff had succumbed to the usual seasonal colds. Things went from bad to worse. He was now desperately short of reliable, experience healthcare staff.
So Zaheed weighed up his options. Overtime and bank staff were options, but for a more sustainable solution – one that protects quality of care, he needed dedicated, trained care staff – and fast. There was no time to recruit, so Zaheed reached out to his network: