Missed Visits and Welfare Checks training
This module teaches you how to prevent missed visits, what to do if you cannot attend a scheduled call, and how to conduct effective welfare checks. These procedures protect the people we support and ensure we meet our regulatory duties under the Care Quality Standard.
What This Training Covers
A clear, practical grounding in missed visits and welfare checks.
This module teaches you how to prevent missed visits, what to do if you cannot attend a scheduled call, and how to conduct effective welfare checks. These procedures protect the people we support and ensure we meet our regulatory duties under the Care Quality Standard.
Learning Outcomes
By the end, your staff will be able to:
What Your Team Will Learn
A closer look at the missed visits and welfare checks module.
The module is built in short, practical sections. Each one teaches a part of the topic, then applies it to a real care scenario and checks understanding before moving on.
Why Missed Visits Are Serious
A missed visit means someone who relies on us for care receives no support when they expect it. This can lead to harm, such as falls, missed medication, dehydration, or distress. People we support may be unable to call for help themselves. Missed visits are a safeguarding issue and a breach of our duty of care. The Care Quality Commission treats missed visits very seriously.
What To Do If You Cannot Attend a Visit
If you cannot attend a scheduled visit for any reason, you must contact the office immediately. Never assume someone else will cover it or that the person can manage without you. The office will arrange alternative cover and contact the person to explain. If you are unwell or have an emergency, call as soon as possible. Do not wait until the visit time has passed. Your first duty is to ensure the person receives their care.
Conducting a Welfare Check When There Is No Answer
If you arrive for a visit and the person does not answer the door, this is a welfare check situation. First, knock loudly and call through the letterbox using their name. Try calling their phone. Look through windows if safe to do so for signs of the person. Check if their car is there or if there are other signs they are home. If you have a key safe code, use it to enter only if you have serious concerns for their safety. Never just leave.
When To Enter Using a Key Safe
You should only use a key safe code to enter when you have genuine concern for the person's welfare and safety. Signs of concern include no answer when they are expected to be home, signs they are inside but not responding, or information suggesting they may be unwell or at risk. Always announce yourself loudly as you enter. If there is no concern and they may simply be out, contact the office for guidance. Never enter just for convenience.
Escalating Welfare Concerns
If you find someone during a welfare check and they need medical attention, call 999 immediately for serious conditions like chest pain, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, or serious injury. For less urgent medical concerns, contact the office who can arrange GP contact or NHS 111. Always stay with the person until help arrives if they are at risk. Document everything you observe. If you find someone has died, do not touch anything, call 999, and contact the office immediately.
Recording and Reporting Welfare Checks
You must document every welfare check in detail, whether you gained entry or not. Record the time you arrived, what you observed, what actions you took, who you contacted, and the outcome. If you entered the property, note the reason for your concern and what you found. Report to the office immediately, do not wait until the end of your shift. Accurate records protect the person and provide evidence we followed correct procedures.
Key Points Covered
The things your team must remember.
- Contact the office immediately if you cannot attend any scheduled visit, for any reason
- A missed visit is a safeguarding concern because the person may experience harm without their expected care
- If someone does not answer, conduct a welfare check by knocking loudly, calling through the letterbox, trying their phone, and looking for signs they are home
- Only use a key safe to enter when you have genuine concern for the person's safety, and always announce yourself as you enter
- Call 999 for serious medical concerns like chest pain, difficulty breathing, loss of consciousness, or serious injury
- Document every welfare check in detail and report to the office immediately, not at the end of your shift
Who and how often
Missed Visits and Welfare Checks is refreshed every year, for the staff in your care setting whose roles require it.
CQC and standards
Supports the training evidence CQC expects to see for a well-run, safe care setting.
How CareStream Delivers It
Not a slideshow once a year. Training that sticks.
CareStream delivers missed visits and welfare checks training in the hub your team already uses, grounded in best practice and your own policies, so it fits your care setting and not a generic template.
Teach, then assess
Short teaching sections and a real care scenario, then an assessment that checks understanding.
In any language
Staff complete it in over 60 languages, while your records stay in English.
Learn and retry
A wrong answer triggers a short follow-up lesson and a fresh question, so the gap is closed.
Renewals handled
Automatic reminders at 90, 30 and 7 days, with a live compliance dashboard.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
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