How Care Homes Can Choose a Reliable Temporary Care Staffing Provider: 7 Checks to Make

By Tanya Gordon, Founder and Director of Eden Homecare 247

Temporary care staffing can help care homes, supported-living services and other providers cover sickness, annual leave, vacancies, rota gaps and short-notice demand. But when an external staffing provider is supplying workers into a regulated care setting, the decision should not be based on price alone.

A reliable staffing provider should be able to explain how workers are engaged, what checks are completed, what information is gathered before an assignment and how concerns are escalated. The following seven checks can help providers assess a potential staffing partner more consistently.

1. Be clear about exactly what roles the staffing provider supplies

Start with scope. Ask which roles the supplier provides, whether those workers are temporary or permanent candidates, and whether the agency supplies registered professionals or non-registered care staff.

Eden Homecare 247’s provider staffing service focuses on non-registered care roles including Healthcare Assistants, Care Assistants, Support Workers and Senior Carers. We do not supply doctors or nurses. The care provider remains responsible for its regulated service, supervision, care plans, risk assessments and local procedures.

2. Check how workers are screened before they are offered for shifts

A provider should ask what pre-employment and suitability checks are completed before a worker is put forward. Depending on the role, this may include identity checks, right-to-work evidence, employment history, references, DBS information and relevant training evidence.

UK employers must check that a person has the right to work before employing them. The current GOV.UK right-to-work service explains the available checking routes, including online checks using a share code where applicable. Certain health and care roles may also be eligible for more detailed DBS checks; GOV.UK provides guidance on checks employers can make on job applicants.

3. Ask how competency and training are reviewed

Certificates alone do not tell you everything about a worker’s current competence. A staffing provider should be able to explain how it reviews experience, training evidence and role suitability before offering someone for an assignment.

For care roles, providers may want to ask about areas such as safeguarding, moving and handling, basic life support, infection prevention, medication awareness and any competencies that are relevant to the placement. The hirer should still complete its own local induction and ensure the worker understands site-specific procedures.

4. Understand how temporary workers are engaged and paid

Temporary staffing is normally provided through an employment business, where workers are engaged by the employment business and supplied to work under the hirer’s supervision. GOV.UK explains that employment businesses have responsibilities around pay, holiday, written terms and key information for agency workers. You can read the current overview of employment agencies and businesses.

The Fair Work Agency now carries out the state enforcement role for employment businesses and agencies in Great Britain. Its current GOV.UK guidance collection for employment businesses and agencies includes the Conduct Regulations and other compliance information for the recruitment sector.

Eden’s temporary provider staffing workers are engaged on PAYE zero-hours arrangements and paid through Eden’s payroll. This is separate from Eden’s family introductory service, where independent carers and families agree their ongoing arrangement directly.

5. Review insurance and responsibility for the assignment

Ask the staffing supplier what insurance it holds for the work it undertakes and whether temporary-worker arrangements are covered appropriately. Providers should also be clear about where responsibility sits once a worker arrives on site.

The hirer remains responsible for its own regulated service and should provide appropriate supervision, risk information, care plans, local policies, equipment and induction. A staffing supplier should not blur that responsibility.

6. Read the booking, cancellation and timesheet terms before the first shift

Commercial terms matter because short-notice staffing can create disputes if expectations are unclear. Before booking, check the hourly charge, minimum shift length, cancellation terms, timesheet process, invoice terms, notice arrangements and what happens if a worker is unsuitable or leaves a shift early.

A professional staffing provider should make these terms available in writing so the care provider can review them before relying on the service.

7. Check safeguarding, incident reporting and escalation routes

Ask what happens if there is a safeguarding concern, medication incident, conduct issue, late arrival, no-show or other problem during a placement. There should be a clear contact route and an agreed process for reporting information promptly.

Employment-business guidance also requires relevant assignment information to be obtained and communicated, including the nature of the work, location, hours and known health and safety risks. Current GOV.UK guidance on the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 explains these obligations in more detail.

A useful question to ask any staffing supplier

One simple question can reveal a lot: “Can you show me what checks you complete and what information you need from us before you supply a worker?”

A credible provider should be able to answer without being vague. It should also be willing to explain its worker model, screening standards, commercial terms and escalation process.

This article provides general information and is not legal, regulatory or employment-law advice. Care providers and staffing businesses should obtain professional advice where they are unsure about their own obligations.