FCC KNOWLEDGE • PRACTICE NOTE
What Happens When the Registered Manager Isn’t There?
Incident readiness is not about expecting staff to phone the RM for every answer. It is about preparing the team to think safely, therapeutically and clearly when the manager is not in the room.
Questions worth taking back to the home
- Can staff identify the immediate safeguarding priority?
- Do they know how to record the child’s experience as well as staff actions?
- Do they understand what needs escalating or notifying?
- Can the Deputy or senior think beyond the incident into debrief, plans, risk and learning?
FCC coaching point
A useful test is simple: if something serious happened tonight, what would your team have in front of them besides the policy?
Use this as a reflective prompt alongside the child’s plans, your organisation’s procedures, professional advice and any current regulatory or statutory guidance that applies.