A True Story of Staffing, Frustrations and Unannounced Inspections
On Tuesday I got into work to find a carer we had on the rota was actually on holiday, (our mistake) but also that a key member of staff hadn’t turned because her son was sick. She was due to give meds and so this meant the RN had to cover 2 floors.
The made me cross because I knew her partner was at home as well. (I won’t go into all the details as this would be a very long blog!)
So starting the day 2 down out of 7 staff wasn’t great. Yes I was annoyed, I could feel myself getting wound up, the frustration rising up and spilling out into how I spoke and acted.
Suddenly I stopped. I remembered the advice I give when I coach others and in my blog posts. (How often do we ignore our own advice right!) There was nothing I could do about what had happened, just deal with what was in front of me right now.
I breathed.
I went and spoke to my admin. ‘I’m really winding myself up this morning’, and laughed. It was just enough to snap me out of my current train of thought.
Staff were rearranged and everyone chipped in to help.
About 10 minutes later a housekeeper burst into my office. CQC were here. Yes, a targeted inspection.
Had I not stopped my overthinking earlier, and carried on working myself up, the CQC inspector would have been met with a frustrated, harassed manager, probably slightly panicking. Instead he was treated with a calm, professional and friendly one, eager to show him around the home.
There is always 2 things going on. What is happening and what we THINK is happening.
(The inspection went really well, thanks for asking)
Martyn Dawes is a Coach, Social Care Consultant, and Author of The Overwhelmed Manager: What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do
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