Office & managers Rolling out

Find cover: visits that need a carer

When a carer rings in sick, or a visit has nobody booked, it needs cover. Needs cover lists every visit with no carer in the next 14 days, and Find cover offers the carers who are actually free.

Rolling out These steps use the new HomecareOS screens, which are being switched on agency by agency. If your screens look different, call us on 01905 674704 and we will walk you through it.

Before you start

  • Finding and booking cover needs a role that can change the rota. Other roles see Needs cover read only.

Steps

  1. Take the carer off their visits

    On the Rota, right-click the carer and mark them sick today: their visits move to Unallocated. Or open a visit and use Take off or Reassign on the visit card. A visit with nobody left on it needs cover.

  2. Open Today, then Needs cover

    The top line says how many visits have no carer in the next 48 hours and the next 14 days. It refreshes every minute while the page is open.

  3. Read the next 14 days

    Each day shows its visits with no carer, and double-ups short of a second carer, by call. Choose a day to go to its visits.

  4. See why they need cover

    Why they need cover groups them: No carer booked or Second carer needed. Cover one carer's run of calls in one go: each line opens the first day it starts.

  5. Choose Find cover on a visit

    Each visit shows the person, its time, length, service and call, and who is already booked. Find cover opens the carers for that visit.

  6. Pick a carer

    Free carers come first, ranked, each with a match score, their drive, how often they have visited the person and their hours free this week. To weigh lists anything to think about first. Carers who are not free are listed under Not free at this time, with why.

  7. Send them

    Choose Send beside the carer. HomecareOS books them on the visit, as the second carer on a double-up, and says so. Choose Refresh the list.

  8. Work down the list

    When every visit has a carer, Needs cover says Every visit in the next 14 days has a carer.

Screenshot coming soon

Good to know

  • Approved leave frees that carer's visits for cover in the same way. See Approve or decline a leave request.
  • On the rota, you can also drag a visit from the Unallocated row onto a carer, or right-click it and choose Find cover.
  • Once a carer is booked, the visit card shows when the visit has reached their phone.
  • If some days say visits are not created for everyone yet, those days may still need cover once the visits are made from the Plan.

Coming soon Coming soon

  • An I'm unwell button in the carer app, which tells the office and lists the rest of the carer's day for cover.

Further reading

Was this helpful?

Read the rota: colours, marks, Unallocated and travel What each row, colour, mark and line on the rota means, and where to click next. Rolling out Use the visit card: times, carers, cancelling and history See planned against delivered, correct times, change carers, cancel, and read the change history. Rolling out Approve or decline a leave request Decide a carer's holiday or leave request, and see who else is off. Rolling out Cancel a visit Cancel with a reason and a charge, and keep the visit on the record. Rolling out