Are two people always required for moving and handling?
Released On 29th Oct 2024
Single-Handed Care (SHC) represents a personalised approach to assessing an individual's moving and handling requirements, ensuring residents receive the right amount of care and support in the correct environment.
Care should be proportionate, enabling, person-centred, and not overprescribed. It should be designed to meet a person’s needs at all times. By adopting SHC, the focus is on delivering precise care within the appropriate setting, all while optimising resource allocations within the system (Harrison, 2022).
SHC is not unlawful and is supported by the Care Act. It ensures a robust and holistic approach is used in the residents’ best interests; is safe with the correct training, systems, equipment, processes and risk assessments in place; and can deliver efficiencies, both financial and time-based, to the care provider, enabling resources to be better used to serve residents and the workforce alike.
Consider an old and frail care home resident who is cognitively well and has no complex physical conditions. This resident uses a standing hoist to transfer from the wheelchair to the toilet. When this resident wants to go to the toilet during the day, they press the call bell and a carer arrives. When they understand the resident needs to use the toilet, another carer needs to be found. This second carer might be in the middle of caring for someone else and unable to come for the next 5-10 minutes, which means the resident may experience an increasing urge to use the toilet. This could increase the chance of having a toileting accident or a fall should they try to mobilise themselves.
Therefore, the question is, are we putting a health and safety standard procedure ahead of the well-being of a resident? Could SHC provide a timely and safe experience to the resident that would enhance their health and well-being?
