Lone working and reduced staffing moments

Lone working can mean being the only person in the building, the only person at reception, working alone in a back office, taking calls in a side room, closing a branch site, or managing an incident while colleagues are with patients.

When staff can become effectively alone

General practice may feel busy while a staff member is effectively unsupported. A receptionist can be near colleagues but unable to summon help because doors are closed, phones are busy, or clinical rooms are occupied.

Reduced staffing commonly occurs at lunchtime, early mornings, late appointments, extended-access sessions, branch surgeries and with short-notice absences. These times require planned controls rather than assuming "someone will be around".

Controls that make lone working safer

• Check-in arrangements: staff know who is present, where they are and when they should check back.
• Help routes: alarms, phones, radios or agreed signals work and are tested.
• Task limits: staff know which tasks should not be done alone, such as confronting a threatening caller or opening to an unknown person after hours.
• Escalation: uncertainty about safety is treated as a reason to pause and get advice.

Do not rely on informal reassurance

"It will only take five minutes" or "nothing usually happens" are not risk controls. A safe arrangement should name who knows the person is working alone, how contact is maintained, which tasks are suitable, and what to do if someone arrives, phones repeatedly, becomes threatening or if the building alarm or IT system fails.

Lone working should be planned, risk-assessed and supported; it should not depend on staff simply coping.

Manager process