While in the perfect world you would arrive at your placement and leave on the appointed day some weeks later, this does not always happen.

Life has a habit of taking strange turns and sometimes you may need to leave your client at short notice. Can you do this?

The answer is yes you can – BUT..

If you need to leave at short notice the very first thing you should do is to contact your agency. If you are doing private work, then you need to contact the family or person who has arranged your position.

It is vital that you give the agency or family as much time as possible to find a replacement for you. Remember that this puts pressure on everyone and tempers may become short. Be as patient as you can when you explain why you need to leave.

Make sure your reason is genuine. Don’t lie about wanting to leave just because you are having a hard time, you will eventually be found out.

Try to offer an alternative. You may know of a neighbour or friend who can take over until a new carer arrives. If you have hourly carers coming in to help you, their agency may be able to offer help for a short time.

Keep your notes up to date before you go. It is very easy to leave daily reports until the end of the day, sometimes, with clients who don’t have a busy schedule it may even be easy to leave your report until the end of the week. If you need to leave, a new carer needs to have a very clear idea of daily schedules and events.

Explain to your client. Handover is a stressful time for clients, without it being brought forward, often with short notice. Be gentle with your client, even though you may be going through a bad time yourself. If you are leaving because of a death in your own family, you will understandably be upset. Try not to let your clients see you upset as it will upset them as well.

What not to do – ever

Never, ever leave a client without first talking to your agency. No matter how fast you need to get away, you must give the agency a chance to talk to you and work out what they are going to do.

As a private carer, it is your duty to tell the family that you need to leave. You should tell them as soon as possible so they can make other arrangements.

If things have become so bad at your placement, you should still wait for an incoming carer before leaving. The agency will do their best to get someone there as soon as they can, and you should be ready to leave as soon as you have done a handover.

If you do walk out on a placement without telling either your agency or the family, you should accept that you will more than likely lose your job. You will not be placed again if they feel they cannot trust you.

To sum up

No matter what happens and why you need to leave at short notice, you should stop and think, before acting. It is possible to leave at short notice only when you go through the correct procedure. Never leave your client on their own, waiting for another carer or family, and never simply walk out without explaining why.  

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