- 25 November 2019
- 2 min read
Three staff rota tips for care home managers
Here are three simple-to-remember staff rota tips for the care home manager.

1) Ensure basic needs of residents are covered
The staffing levels / allocation must cover the basic needs of the residents in your care –that’s a minimum of staff to cover care, laundry, housekeeping and catering.
If there are absences on shift (weekends are usually the worst), these needs still need to be met regardless.
In most homes, certain care staff will be experienced in providing cover for other areas too – the crucial two are kitchen and housekeeping.
2) The rota needs to reflect a good skill-mix
People put to work together need to have a sufficient depth of experience to cope with the demands of the area they are allocated to.
If this doesn’t happen, a more experienced staff member on shift will carry the shift and may burn out / get resentful and eventually leave.
This often happens in social care, especially when staff are regularly allocated to an area with a heavy workload.
This can also amplify the risk of residents receiving poorly co-ordinated care.
For example - if there is a floor in a care home with a lot of physical work, e.g. many residents who require the assistance of 2 staff, if one of the staff is inexperienced or with a slow work pace, just meeting the minimum needs for the residents for that day – getting them up, washing, accessing the toilet, eating, drinking, getting changed can be exhausting for the more experienced staff member.
3) The live rota is a legally binding document
The live rota is a legally binding document to evidence staffing levels on a given day. It can be used in a court of law should there be a serious accident that may relate to levels of staffing and the registered manager will be held accountable.
For these reasons, the following good sense applies:
• The rota needs to be a controlled document
• It needs to be owned
• Changes need to be authorised
• Staff are not to change it themselves
The live must be managed through the deputy care home manager / duty manager / care home manager to ensure that the staffing cover arranged is safe and adequate and balances the needs of the team with the needs of the residents
Read our Complete Care Home Manager Career Guide
We explain the key elements of a Home Manager’s job and the questions around working in Care Homes in the UK. We cover typical pay, CQC requirements as well as the challenges faced by Home Managers and Registered Managers
Find out moreRelated articles
• How we should manage privacy protection in our care homes
• How to successfully manage night staff in care homes
• How Care Home Managers can hire with success and why getting recruitment right is so important
• Managing finance to run a viable Care Home
• Like this article? Subscribe to The Nurses Weekly
Registered Home Manager
About the author
Registered Home Manager
Liam Palmer is the author of 3 books on raising quality standards in care homes through developing leadership skills. In Oct 2020, he published a guide to the Home Manager role called "So You Want To Be A Care Home Manager?". Liam has been fortunate to work as a Senior Manager across many healthcare brands including a private hospital, a retirement village and medium to large Care Homes in the private sector and 3rd sector. He hosts a podcast "Care Quality - meet the leaders and innovators”.
Want to get involved in the discussion
Sign In JoinRead something else
Registered Managers: How Much You Can Expect To Be Paid Working In Care Homes
We outline what you can earn as a Registered Manager working in Social Care, in both NHS and private care homes, as well as the future for Registered Manager pay.
Why You Should Think Of Working As A Nurse In Social Care
Keynote speaker, and British Care Award Winner, Ian Donaghy, talks to Nurses working in Social Care on how they began their careers, and what makes the job so special.
How The Care Community Came Together For Christmas
Keynote speaker, and British Care Award Winner, Ian Donaghy, gives the highlights of The Big Christmas Care Singalong and outlines how the care community came together for the global Christmas event.
Latest Jobs
RGN Nurse
Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland
Appoint Healthcare
Nurse
Kingswinford, West Midlands, England
Belsize Healthcare
Registered Nurse
Bury, Greater Manchester, England
Leaders In Care
Deputy Manager
Sale, Greater Manchester, England
Care Concern Group
Deputy Nursing Home Manager
Ryde, Isle of Wight, England
Remedicare Staffing
Registered Manager
Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
Coburg Banks
See all of our RGN jobs
5563 jobs currently available