Deck the Halls: Tips for Preparing your Service for Christmas
Getting ready for Christmas? ClouDoc has some tips for your health and social care service in preparing for this year’s festive holiday.
Tip #1 - Get your shift/rota planning sorted
Sort and send out your staff rotas as soon as possible to allow your staff members to make their plans over the festive season. Most care staff will understandably want to spend time with their family, especially on Christmas Day, so you might need think about some incentives that encourage staff members to come in on these highly coveted periods of leave.
Incentives you may want to consider include:
- Enhanced pay during the festive period
- Half shifts (instead of a 12 hour day, staff work the morning or afternoon)
- Time off in lieu
- Alternating Christmas and New Year shifts
- Allocating annual leave
- Swapping shifts
- People that do this year’s shifts get next year’s shifts off
Care staff who use public transport will need a walkable rota or to be given lifts on Christmas and Boxing Day, and there will be reduced services on other bank holidays.
Tip #2 - Meeting people's needs
Transport will need to be available to assist people in attending church, for example, and on the day preparations need to be made to ensure visits are scheduled around time sensitive events such as the King’s Speech.
Make sure to involve people in decorations – both in the choosing and putting up!
Staff should be attentive to people receiving services saying things like “It isn’t Christmas without…” and trying to make person-centered customs happen.
Staff and services should also be aware that Christmas isn’t always a jolly time for everyone (see the gov.uk blog for advice here), older people especially may express grief for lost loved ones or the past in general. Some people may wish to reminisce about the past or look at photographs and keepsakes, but others might find that painful, so staff should respond appropriately to each person.
If people aren’t celebrating Christmas for cultural or religious reasons, staff should be aware of this and make sure they respond appropriately; it may be useful to develop a festive season care plan that clearly identifies people’s requirements.
Christmas is a great opportunity to develop unique traditions appropriate and fun for people using your service. For example, care home management serving a special dinner to care staff and people together on Boxing Day, home decorating parties, forming a carolling choir, or home care services who have a manager or staff dedicated to personally delivering a card and small gift to people — which also functions as a final check to ensure that everyone has everything they need for Christmas.
Tip #3 - Make procedures relating to gift giving clear
There’s nothing in the regulations that specifically forbids accepting gifts, but services might choose a total ban to avoid any ambiguity. For some services, this could well be the best option, but most adult care services support people who have the capacity to decide if they want to buy a festive present for a care worker they appreciate, and refusal may well be found insulting by the person. Many people have reported feeling patronised by gift bans.
Clearly defined parameters in which gifts can be exchanged is a suitable solution for your service.
ClouDoc’s Gifts and Legacies Policy includes:
- The legisaltion, fundamental standards and Key lines of enquiry related to gift giving
- Definition of solicitation
- Appropriate restrictions (rather than an absolute ban) on gift-giving
- The recording and declaration of gifts.
On your ClouDoc account you’ll also find some other documents related to gift giving which may be useful:
- Anti-Bribery Policy
- Record of gifts form
- Gifts declaration form.
Merry Christmas from ClouDoc! If you’re interested in compliant documents on a useful mangement system, give us a call on 0330 808 0050 or take a look at our packages.
Check out our previous blog Winter’s on Its Way — Here’s How to Prepare for information on dealing with health & safety, business continuity and high demand during winter time.
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