How to manage unallocated care visits.

Start with the visit that needs cover.

An unallocated visit is planned care with a required carer assignment still missing. It is different from a visit that has been cancelled or put on hold. Check the current requirement before trying to fill the gap: the date, client, start time, duration and number of carers needed.

In MyRoster, use the unallocated view’s date and area filters to focus on the period you are responsible for. Look at individual uncovered visits as well as run days without a carer. Keep today’s outstanding work visible while checking whether the same issue repeats later in the week.

• Is this visit still due to take place?
• Does it need one carer or two?
• Is one assignment missing, or is the whole visit uncovered?
• Is this an isolated absence or a gap in the regular rota?

Check the person’s full working day.

Before allocating a carer, review availability and existing work. Check the sequence of visits, travel time, relevant care requirements and your organisation’s staffing arrangements. An apparently free space on a timetable is the start of this check, not the whole decision.

MyRoster’s allocation workflow checks availability and can warn about clashes. Review those warnings alongside the run and carer timetables. If someone cannot reasonably reach the visit, putting their name against it does not resolve the underlying gap.

Choose the right scope for the change.

Covering a single absence and changing the regular rota are different actions. In the uncovered-visit assignment workflow, MyRoster offers “This date only” and an “Every [day]” option for a regular assignment from the selected date. Check the scope before saving.

Illustrative example: a Thursday 07:30 double-up visit has one carer assigned, but the second carer is absent for that day. Arrange the missing assignment for that Thursday using “This date only”, then check that both required carers appear. If the regular pattern remains correct, it should not need changing for later Thursdays.

If the absence affects a whole run or several dates, review all affected visits. Resolving the first visible row does not prove that the remaining calls are covered.

Confirm the rota and communicate the change.

After saving, check the visit in the rota and the assigned carer’s timetable. Revisit the unallocated list for the same dates and area to find any remaining gaps. For a double-up visit, confirm each required assignment rather than stopping after the first one is filled.

Use your agreed communication process to confirm the change with the affected team. Make sure the covering carer knows the visit time and can access the relevant client information. Follow your service’s process for any communication with the person receiving care.

Hand over an action, not just a list.

For every unresolved gap, record who is handling it, what has already been checked and when the next update is due. Keep this handover in your approved operational records; the list below is a suggested structure, not a claim that MyRoster automatically creates a cover plan.

When the care day starts, use ECM alongside the rota to review recorded attendance. If the same run repeatedly needs last-minute cover, bring it back into the next rota review rather than treating each occurrence as unrelated.

• Visit date and time, with the required cover still missing
• Named coordinator responsible for the next action
• Availability and cover options already checked
• Agreed next update and the service’s escalation route
• Confirmation still needed from the people affected

Common questions