Practice
Better shift handovers in care: what the next team needs to know
Pelp Care · · 6 min read
Handover is one of the most important moments in any care shift. In a few minutes, one team passes on what it knows to the next: who needs extra support, what has changed, what is outstanding and what to watch for.
When handover goes well, the next shift starts informed. When it goes badly, important information can be lost, tasks get missed and Individuals may have to explain themselves again to staff who should already know. This guide covers how to make handovers clearer and more reliable.
Focus on what has changed
Handover is not the place to repeat everything in the care plan. The next team can read the plan. What they need is what is different today: changes in health, mood, appetite, sleep or behaviour, new risks, visitors, appointments and anything that did not go as expected.
A simple structure helps
Using the same structure every time makes handovers quicker and makes gaps easier to spot. Many teams find it helpful to go through each Individual in turn, then cover service-wide points at the end.
- How the Individual has been, including anything notable they said or did
- Changes to health, medication, risks or support needs
- Incidents, concerns or safeguarding matters, and what has been done
- Appointments, visits or calls due on the next shift
- Tasks that are outstanding and who is responsible for them
- Anything the next team should keep an eye on
Make sure handover is written as well as spoken
Verbal handovers allow questions and context that are hard to capture in writing. But spoken handovers alone are easy to forget, are not available to staff who arrive later and leave no record of what was passed on.
A short written handover, completed before the verbal one, gives everyone the same starting point and means that agency staff, late starters and managers can catch up without relying on memory.
Close the loop on outstanding tasks
One of the most common handover failures is a task that everyone assumes someone else will do. A follow-up call to a GP, a prescription to collect or a message to a family member can easily slip between shifts.
Name an owner for every outstanding task, and check at the next handover whether it has been completed.
Protect time and privacy
Handovers should happen somewhere they cannot be overheard by people who should not hear them, and with enough time to be done properly. Rushed handovers at the door, or conversations in shared areas, increase the risk of mistakes and breaches of confidentiality.
How technology can help
Digital care systems can make handovers more reliable by drawing together the shift’s notes, incidents and outstanding tasks so staff do not have to rebuild the picture from memory. Summaries can help, as long as they show where the information came from and staff check them before relying on them.
Pelp is being designed so that handover notes and tasks connect to each Individual’s records, and so that any summary is a draft for staff to check rather than a replacement for their judgement.