Tips for lone care workers

Working in domiciliary care or home care can often mean our staff members are out in the field alone.

There are benefits to this as many of our carers have told us that working one-to-one with a service user is very rewarding. It also gives them a good opportunity to build and sustain relationships.

It allows them to focus and make their own decisions and use their initiative. It also gives them a sense of independence.

We often pair up our lone care workers with new members of staff, so they can shadow them and learn the ropes. This is beneficial for both parties as sharing ideas and thoughts can make all the difference to the role.

We’ve put together the top tips that we share with all our care workers if they are working alone out in the field:

Stay safe on care calls

Our care worker’s safety is of paramount importance to us. We advise all our carers who work alone to make sure they always have a fully charged mobile phone, should they need to contact anyone in an emergency.

If they are walking between calls in early morning or the evenings, they should wear high vis jackets. We also provide our carers with a torch.

Our carers brave all sorts of weather conditions. We have put together some top tips on care work in winter weather here.

Communicate with colleagues

It’s important to chat to other colleagues, so you can share any concerns or generally just have a natter. Our carers often visit their local office to pick up rotas or to have meetings and will see other colleagues and office staff, so there’s always time for a cuppa and a catch up.

We know how important it is to chat to someone for mental health reasons and to reduce social isolation.

Be organised

Working alone means you will need to be organised and self-sufficient. There is no one else to rely on to tell you what to do or where to go. You can read our tips on time management and organisation as a carer here.