Winter Preparedness Policy

Aim

Cavendish Homecare Professionals’ aim is to ensure it is prepared for winter conditions and whatever impact that might have on the safety and wellbeing of clients and staff.

Policy

In order to reduce the risk or impact of emergencies due to winter weather:

All clients who are identified as potentially at risk in cold weather will have their plan of care reviewed before winter, in collaboration with the client and their carers, family or representatives. Suitable plans will be agreed to ensure their safety.
Care staff will ensure that clients have access to hot drinks and food and a means of keeping warm. The organisation will work with other agencies, such as social services and primary care, to ensure that vulnerable clients are appropriately supported during cold weather. Where the client is agreeable, staff will also engage with carers and voluntary bodies as required.
For clients living in hard to heat homes or who find it hard to afford to heat their home the organisation will work with other agencies, including energy suppliers, to ensure that they have adequate heating. Staff should be aware of Age UK guidance that room temperatures for over-65s should include: 21^oC in living rooms and 18^oC in bedrooms.
Where necessary and relevant, the organisation will liaise with local emergency services to ensure that contingency plans fit with local resilience planning in the area, particularly in response to winter emergencies such as floods, major storms, heavy snowfall, etc. – this should include contingency plans for situations where care staff cannot reach the home of a client or are delayed.
Care staff will work with clients to ensure that they have adequate provisions and supplies for cold weather and potential loss of services, such as flashlights, food, water, warm clothes and blankets. Staff will also ensure that clients have adequate means of summoning help in an emergency, and the emergency contact details of electricity, gas and water suppliers.
Effective plans will be in place for dealing with staff shortages and other staffing emergencies due to winter weather or flooding.
Cavendish Homecare Professionals will have business continuity plans in place which are compliant with the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 and will be designed to ensure that it can return to normal functioning as soon as possible after an emergency where its services are disrupted.

Management duties

Managers in the organisation have a duty to:

regularly audit and review the use of this policy and the effectiveness of its winter preparedness arrangements
ensure that any emergency situations or incidents related to cold or winter conditions, including near misses, are logged and reported
ensure that staff receive the appropriate training so that they know exactly how to react in any emergency winter situation.

Staff duties

Staff in this organisation have a duty to:

report any emergency situations or incidents, including near misses
always act in full compliance with this policy
attend appropriate training.

Date: January 2024

Version: 6 (Review)

Source: Expert Care Manager