If a care home gets an enquiry for a new resident, is it good practice to put in the care needs of the new referred person to see how the care homes hours are affected? Or is this futile as you never really know the persons needs before they arrive?

Yes, it is good practice to complete the resident’s needs assessment within DepenSys before they are admitted wherever possible. One large group have declared it good practice to do so, so that a safe resident community can be built through understanding the impact on staffing and the current resident population. They also recognise that the information prior to admission may not always be accurate. However, by recording the information received prior to admission you have a baseline, and if the resident presents with a different range of needs you can immediately go back to the service / person providing the information to demonstrate the inaccuracy. Some admissions may be reversed as a result!