SENDhelp
Using care agencies reactively, failing to brief workers and not managing agency costs are among the most common mistakes care providers make. This guide explains how to avoid the most costly and disruptive mistakes in care agency use.
Care providers that use staffing agencies effectively treat them as strategic partners in their workforce management. Those that use agencies poorly treat them as a last resort, fail to invest in the relationship and make a series of avoidable mistakes that increase cost, reduce quality and create compliance risk. The following common mistakes, and how to avoid them, represent the most significant opportunities for providers to improve the value they get from agency relationships.
SENDhelp supplies experienced, vetted care staff to health and social care providers across the UK. Whether you need registered nurses, support workers or specialist care staff, we can help you fill vacancies quickly and compliantly.
The most common and costly mistake in care agency use is treating agencies as a crisis resource rather than a planned component of the workforce strategy. Reactive agency use, where agencies are only contacted when a shift is about to start uncovered, results in last-minute premium rates, less effective worker matching, higher rates of workers who are unfamiliar with the service and missed opportunities to brief the agency adequately. Integrating agency use into workforce planning, identifying needs in advance and booking ahead wherever possible reduces cost and improves quality significantly.
A worker who arrives for a shift without adequate briefing on the service, the specific care tasks required and the individual needs of service users they will be supporting is a safety risk. Providers that send agency workers straight onto the floor without even a brief introduction to the building, the team and any relevant risk information are failing their duty of care. Even a brief, structured induction covering the essential information reduces risk and improves the quality of care during the placement.
One of the most valuable things a provider can do to improve the quality of agency placements over time is to provide consistent feedback on every worker. When a worker performs well, telling the agency ensures they can prioritise that worker for future placements with the provider. When a worker underperforms or is unsuitable, telling the agency ensures they are not sent back. Providers that never provide feedback get workers sent at random from the available pool rather than workers who are genuinely suited to their service.
Relying entirely on a single agency creates operational risk: if the primary agency cannot fill a last-minute booking, the provider has no alternative. Every provider should maintain relationships with at least one backup agency for situations where the primary cannot supply. The backup relationship does not need to involve high volume: even occasional bookings maintain the relationship and ensure the backup agency is familiar with the service when they are needed.
Agency costs that are not actively monitored and managed tend to increase over time. Providers that do not track their agency spend as a proportion of total staffing costs, that do not compare actual charges against contracted rates and that do not review their agency mix regularly miss opportunities to reduce costs. Regular review of agency usage data, comparison of spend against budget and active management of preferred supplier relationships are all part of managing agency costs effectively.
When an agency provides a worker who is clearly not suitable for the placement, the temptation is to keep them on the shift rather than managing the disruption of a replacement. Accepting unsuitable workers without raising the issue with the agency sends the signal that the worker’s performance is acceptable and results in repeat placements of the same individual. Providers should raise concerns with the agency promptly and clearly, and should remove workers from placements when their suitability is genuinely in question on safety grounds.
For related information see our articles on How to Choose a Care Agency and Good Staffing in Health and Social Care.
Common mistakes include: using agencies reactively rather than planning agency use as part of the workforce strategy; failing to brief agency workers adequately on arrival; not providing feedback on workers placed; relying on a single agency without backup options; not monitoring and managing agency costs; and accepting unsuitable workers without raising concerns.
Reducing agency reliance requires a strategic approach: invest in direct recruitment to fill permanent vacancies, build a larger internal bank of flexible workers, implement effective absence management to reduce unplanned gaps, brief existing staff on the agency use target and the importance of their attendance, and offer incentives for bank workers to be available for short-notice cover.
Agency workers who are not briefed on the service, the specific care tasks and the individual needs of service users present a safety risk. Briefing does not need to be lengthy: even a short structured induction covering the building layout, health and safety essentials, care plans relevant to the shift and who to contact with concerns significantly reduces risk and improves the quality of care during the placement.
Visit our Health and Social Care Agency Resource Hub for more guides on staffing, compliance, CQC standards, agency costs and how to choose the right care agency for your organisation.
The information in this article is provided for general guidance only and does not constitute legal, regulatory or professional advice. Regulations, rates and compliance requirements change: always verify current requirements with the relevant regulatory body. SENDhelp Education Limited accepts no responsibility or liability for any loss or damage arising from reliance on this content. Any links to third-party websites are provided for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement of their content.
To stop receiving marketing emails or SMS’s from SENDhelp, kindly complete the form below. We strive to promptly remove your information, aiming to complete the process as soon as we receive your submission.