Choosing a care staffing agency: a checklist for care home managers

When an agency worker walks onto your floor, they are working under your CQC registration. If something goes wrong, inspectors will not ask whether the agency did its checks. They will ask whether you were satisfied that they had. That is why choosing a staffing agency deserves the same care as recruiting your own team.

This checklist sets out what a well-run agency should be able to show you, and the questions worth asking before your first booking.

1. Recruitment checks you should be able to see

Regulation 19 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 requires that people providing care are of good character, have the right qualifications and skills, and are physically and mentally able to do the work. Schedule 3 sets out the information that must be available. For agency workers, you are relying on the agency to hold that information, so ask to see a compliance profile for every worker, covering:

• Enhanced DBS check with a check of the adults' barred list, and how recently it was issued or checked on the Update Service
• Right to work in the UK, checked in line with Home Office guidance
• Proof of identity, including a recent photograph
• Two references, ideally including the most recent employer in care, followed up by the agency
• Full employment history with any gaps explained in writing
• Training record with dates, so you can see what is in date

2. Training that matches your residents' needs

Mandatory training should cover, as a minimum, moving and handling, safeguarding adults, infection prevention and control, basic life support, fire safety, food hygiene, health and safety, and the Mental Capacity Act. Most agencies align their induction to the Care Certificate standards.

Go further than the basics. If your home supports people living with dementia, people with learning disabilities, or people who need percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) feeding or catheter care, ask how the agency confirms competence, not just attendance on a course.

3. The legal basics of agency supply

Two sets of rules are worth knowing:

• The Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 require the agency to agree terms with you in writing before supplying workers, and prevent agencies from charging work-seekers fees for finding them work. A reputable agency will send you terms of business up front.
• The Agency Workers Regulations 2010 give agency workers the right to the same basic pay and conditions as your directly employed staff once they have completed 12 weeks in the same role with you. Ask the agency how they track this and how it affects rates on longer placements.

4. Questions to ask about how they work

• How will you confirm a booking, and how quickly will I know if you cannot fill it?
• Can you send the same workers regularly, so they get to know our residents?
• What happens if a worker cancels or does not turn up?
• How are timesheets authorised and invoiced?
• Are charge rates for nights, weekends and bank holidays agreed in writing?
• How do I give feedback on a worker, and how do you act on it?
• How do you handle a safeguarding concern or incident involving one of your workers?

5. Induction on your side

Even the best-prepared agency worker needs a local induction: fire exits and procedures, the call bell system, who is in charge, key risks for individual residents, and how to record care. A short induction checklist, signed and kept, is good practice and something inspectors may ask about.

How Waymark can help

Waymark supplies care assistants, senior care assistants and support workers to care homes and supported living services across Hull and East Yorkshire. We send a compliance profile before every placement, agree rates in writing before any booking, and aim to send the same familiar faces wherever we can. Find out more about our care staffing service or call us on 01482 935215.