Care Contacts and Professionals List

Who this is for

Everyone involved in one person's care, on one page. The emergency numbers go at the top, and the table below takes each professional, service and relative with their role, organisation, phone, email and — the column that matters — when they are the right person to contact.

Families sharing the care of one person, carers arriving for the first time, agencies keeping a front sheet in the file, and anybody who has ever rung the wrong service because the right number was in somebody else's phone.

What this helps you track

• Who to ring first in an emergency, and who after that
• Every professional and service involved, with the organisation they belong to
• The phone number and email that actually get answered
• When each person is the one to contact, so the call goes to the right place
• One sheet to hand to a new carer or a relative covering for the week

How to use it

1. Write the person's name and address at the top, with who keeps the sheet and the date it was last updated.
2. Fill in the two emergency lines with the people to ring first and second, their relationship and a number that will be answered.
3. Add a line for every professional, service and relative involved — the prefilled roles are a start; rename or cross out any that do not apply.
4. In the last column say when that person is the right one to contact: which problems, which hours, which days.
5. Pin a copy up where the person is cared for, give one to each carer and keep one in the file.
6. Redo the sheet when a number changes, and put the new date on it; an old number on a contacts sheet is worse than none.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The online version keeps what you enter in your own browser and builds the completed PDF on your device.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Which roles are on the sheet already?

A handful of common ones, as a starting point and nothing more — doctor, pharmacy, care agency, social worker and so on. Who is actually involved in one person's care differs from place to place and person to person, so rename them freely.

What goes in the when-to-contact column?

The thing people most often get wrong: what each person is for. A line that says which problems go to whom, and the hours they answer, saves a lot of calls to the wrong desk.

Should I include family and neighbours?

Yes, if they are part of the care. The person who holds a spare key or sits in on a Tuesday is as much a contact as any professional.

Is this the same as the emergency contact sheet?

The two emergency lines at the top cover that. The rest of the sheet is the longer list of everyone in the picture, which an emergency sheet does not need and a new carer does.

Where should it be kept?

In sight, where the care happens, and in the file. The online version saves in your own browser and prints a fresh copy whenever a number changes.