Does anyone have any good practice or procedures they’d be willing to share when dealing with a resident who has passed away in their property?
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We have a procedure in place for staff dealing with a death, which is actually very similar to the one above. We have also created a Bereavement Pack for NOKs, which gives them all the information about ending the tenancy, all the relevant forms as well, plus some useful support links for them. Happy to share a copy if you like?
Dealing with the death of a resident
In the event of discovering or being informed of a resident who appears to be unconscious/dead:
· Call the Police and Ambulance Service immediately to attend and establish if the resident is dead.
· Do not move the body or anything in the flat that may indicate the cause of death eg tablets by the bed etc.
· Inform your line manager as soon as possible
· Inform property services, care providers and other relevant third parties to ensure scheduled visits are cancelled.
· You or your team manager may have to notify the next of kin, but discuss this between you
· Immediately put a sign on the door stating, ‘For access contact the scheme manager on [phone number]’. Do not include any other wording or details on this sign.
· When the body has been moved from the flat secure the flat.
· Add the incident to [our health & safety incident recording system]
Raise a case on [our internal CRM database]:
· Please make sure the case is raised against the actual tenants name
· add the basic details , who died, how you were informed, the date of death etc.
· add all the information you have, contact details of person who informed you and next of kin, have you given them any advice, have you given them a termination form, any details of discussion with them about arrangements etc.
· Following the initial raising of the case in CRM you should create a new task in that case for anything further that you establish or further information about contacts from family or other interested parties, in the subject put for information and in the description what you need Housing Management to know, this is particularly important if keys or documents are handed to you on site.
Your wellbeing
Dealing with the death of a resident can be very distressing, but there is help available. Your Team Manager will support you, and you can access a range of support including the safe space for frontline workers
Rebecca Mollart, erosh CEO.
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