A knock at the door from a stranger
An 88-year-old client is used to her regular carer, Jo, in the mornings. Jo is on holiday this week. On Monday, a carer she has never met knocks at the door. She is frightened and will not let him in until she has rung the office to check he is genuine. The call is late, and the carer is late for the next one.
Other clients ring every Sunday to ask who is coming this week. Some ring when a carer is ten minutes late, to ask if anyone is coming at all.
Why clients are kept in the dark
Rotas are built for carers and coordinators. Clients are rarely sent anything. When the rota changes, the office tells carers and forgets the client, or means to ring and runs out of time.
Many clients are not online. An app alone does not help them. A printed schedule has to be posted or handed over, which feels like too much effort for a rota that changes during the week.
Clients living with memory problems need the information in a form they or their family can refer to, not a phone call they might forget.
Families often want to know too. A daughter who lives nearby may want to be there when a new carer visits for the first time, or may simply want to reassure her father the night before. Without a schedule, she has to ring the office herself, and the office has to look it up.
What not knowing costs
| Effect | Where it lands |
|---|---|
| Anxious clients | Distress at unknown carers or unannounced changes |
| Refused entry | Visits delayed while identity is checked |
| Office calls | Clients and families ringing to ask who is coming |
| Complaints | Changes experienced as poor communication |
| Private clients | Families expect to know and compare agencies |
Clients cannot always have the same carer. They can nearly always be told who is coming instead, and that makes a large difference.
Visit schedules and change alerts
- Each client's contact preference recorded: post, email, text, app, or schedules sent to a family member.
- A weekly schedule generated from the rota for each client, with visit time windows and the carer's first name, and optionally a photo of the carer where carers have agreed.
- Printed schedules produced in large, clear type for clients who prefer paper, batched for posting or handed over by the regular carer.
- Change alerts when a carer or time changes after the schedule is sent, by text or to the family, in plain words.
- An identity check option: a way for the client or family to confirm who is at the door, such as the carer's photo in the family app.
- Controls so the office can pause alerts for a client, or send to the family only.
Many care management platforms can produce client schedules. If yours can, we help set it up. We build when you need a mix of paper, text and family alerts they do not provide.
Clients who know what to expect
Clients have a schedule on the fridge or on their phone. When a carer changes, they or their family get a short message. The stranger at the door becomes 'Sam, covering for Jo', expected and welcomed.
The Sunday calls to the office fall away, and complaints about unannounced changes become rare.
Could this be your agency?
- Clients are not told in advance who is coming
- Clients refuse entry to carers they do not recognise
- Clients ring each week to ask about their visits
- Changes reach carers but not clients
- Many clients are not online