Admissions, bed moves, absences, transfers and discharges

Where: Care → Beneficiaries → open the person → Residential admissions and Community programme enrolments.

Action	Permission
Admit, transfer, discharge, cancel; enrol and end enrolments	care.admission.manage
Move bed	care.placement.manage
Start absence, record return	care.absence.manage

You also need access to the home involved. For a transfer, that means both homes.

How a stay works

An admission is one stay in one home. While it is live, the person can be in a bed (placement), and can be temporarily away (absence). Every step is kept as history.

The buttons appear on the admission's row, and only when they apply:

Button	Shown when
Move bed, Start absence, Transfer	The admission is Active (not on leave)
Record return	There is an open absence
Discharge	The admission is Active or On leave
Cancel (recorded in error)	The admission is Active and was recorded less than 24 hours ago

Admit a resident

Before you start: the person is registered (status Referred or Discharged), the home has a free bed (or you'll place them later), and you have access to that home.

Open the profile → Residential admissions → Admit:

Field	What to enter	Example (Maya)
Programme	A residential programme	Children residential care
Facility	The home	Sunrise North House
Bed	An available bed in that home, or leave empty to place later	3A · Bed 3A
Admitted at	Date and time of arrival	01/03/2026 16:30
Admission type	Planned, Emergency, Respite or Trial	Emergency
Legal basis	Voluntary (parent), Voluntary (self), Court order, State placement, Emergency protection or Other	Voluntary parent

Select Admit. What happens:

• A new admission ADM-000… appears in the table with status Active.
• The person's status becomes Active.
• If you chose a bed, the bed board shows them in it.

Warnings you may see (the admission is still saved)

Warnings appear at the top of the profile as "Warning: …". They don't block anything; they make sure you have noticed.

Warning	Meaning	Example
Age 19 is outside the programme CHILD-RES range 0–18	The person's age is outside the programme's guidance	A care leaver readmitted at 19
Age … is outside the facility range …	Same, for the home's age limits
Date of birth unknown: age eligibility not checked	The Party has no date of birth
Facility is male-only / female-only	Gender policy doesn't match the person's recorded gender
Facility is at or over registered capacity (12/12)	All registered places are taken
Facility licence expired on 2026-03-31	The licence expiry date has passed
1 sibling(s) placed in other facilities	A member of the person's sibling group household lives in another home	Maya's brother is at another home

The system refuses when

Message	What to do
Beneficiary already has a live residential admission	One live stay at a time. Use Transfer to change home, or discharge first.
Use an enrolment for non-residential programmes	The programme isn't residential. Use Community programme enrolments.
Facility is inactive / Programme is inactive	Choose an active one, or reactivate it.
Bed 3A is occupied	Choose another bed; the bed board shows which are free.
Bed 3A is OUT_OF_SERVICE (or RESERVED)	Choose an available bed.
The bed belongs to another facility	Choose a bed in the selected home.
Facility is outside your business-unit access	Ask for access to that home (Access).

Move to another bed

Use Move bed to move someone within the same home.

Field	What to enter	Example
When	When the move happened	15/04/2026 10:00
Bed	The new bed (required)	5B · Bed 5B
Reason	Room move, Clinical, Behaviour, Request or Maintenance	Request

Select Confirm Move. The old bed placement is closed at that time, and a new one opens. The bed board updates at once.

Example	Steps
Maya asks for a quieter room	Move bed → Bed 5B → Reason Request
A leak in Room 3	Move each resident (Reason Maintenance), then take the beds out of service
A resident admitted without a bed	Move bed places them for the first time

Refusals: "Use the transfer command to move between facilities" (the bed is in another home: use Transfer), and "Time is before the current bed placement started".

Temporary absences

Use Start absence when a resident is away but will come back to the same bed.

Field	What to enter	Example
When	When they left	20/04/2026 09:00
Absence type	Home visit, Hospital, School trip, Respite, Missing or Other	Home visit
Expected back	When they should return	22/04/2026 18:00
Notes	Useful details	Weekend with grandmother; collected by her

Select Confirm Absence. The person's status becomes On leave, the profile shows "On leave (Home visit) since …", and their bed is kept: nobody else can be put in it.

When they return, select Record return and confirm "Record the return now?". The status goes back to Active.

A missing person

Choosing Absence type: Missing does more:

1. The profile shows Missing since …, and the bed board counts the person as missing.
2. A Missing person incident is created automatically. Open it from Incidents and follow your procedure: who was told, the police reference, and so on. See Incidents.
3. When the person returns, Record return ends the absence. The incident stays open until it is reviewed and closed. Returning doesn't close it.

Example: Daniel doesn't come back from college by 22:00. Sara records Start absence → Missing at 22:00, with notes "Not answering phone; last seen at college 16:00". Incident INC-000031 is created. At 01:30 Daniel is brought back by the police. Sara selects Record return, then adds actions to the incident: "Notified police", reference CAD-1182.

Transfer to another home

Use Transfer when a resident moves to another of your homes, for example from North House to another children's home.

Field	What to enter	Example
When	Date and time of the move	01/06/2026 11:00
To facility	The receiving home	Sunrise Oak House
Reason	Why	Closer to her new school
Bed	A bed in the receiving home, or No bed yet	2A · Bed 2A

Select Confirm Transfer. The current admission becomes Discharged with reason Transferred, and a new admission opens in the receiving home. Both stay in the history. Warnings for the new home are shown, as for an admission.

Only an Active admission can be transferred, not one on leave: "Only an active admission (not on leave) can be transferred". Record the return first. You need access to both homes.

Discharge

Use Discharge when the stay ends.

Field	What to enter	Example
When	Date and time they left	30/06/2026 12:00
Reason	Reunified with family, Kinship care, Fostered, Adopted, Aged out, Independent living, Hospital (long term), Deceased, Absconded or Other	Reunified family
Date of death (if known)	Shown only for Deceased	14/07/2026
Destination	Where they went	Mother's home, 12 Park Road

Select Confirm Discharge. The bed is freed. The person's status becomes:

• Discharged;
• Active, if they still have an active community enrolment;
• Deceased, for the reason Deceased. A deceased person's record cannot be admitted again.

Situation	What to do
The person is on leave	Select Record return first: "Record the return from absence before discharging". Except for the reasons Absconded, Hospital (long term) and Deceased, which close the absence for you.
Discharging for Reunified family after a tracing case	The tracing case needs a reunification assessment that recommends it. See Tracing.
A young person leaving at 18	Reason Aged out or Independent living. See Leaving care.

Cancel an admission recorded in error

If an admission was entered by mistake (wrong person, or a duplicate), use Cancel (recorded in error) within 24 hours of recording it, and give the reason. The admission becomes Cancelled and the bed is freed.

After 24 hours the system refuses: "Admissions can only be cancelled within 24 hours of recording; discharge instead".

Community programme enrolments

Non-residential programmes, such as a day centre or family support, use enrolments instead of admissions. They have no bed.

1. In Community programme enrolments, choose the programme in Enrol in and select Enrol.
2. The list shows "Day centre · since 2026-05-01".
3. To end it, select End and enter an optional reason, such as "Moved to residential care".

Rule	Message
Residential programmes can't be enrolled	Residential programmes use admissions, not enrolments
One live enrolment per programme	Already enrolled in DAY-CARE
End date not before start	End date cannot be before the enrolment date

Enrolling a person who is Referred or Discharged makes them Active.

Example: Ruth's year at Elm Lodge

Date	What happened	Action in the system
10 Jan	Ruth moves into Elm Lodge	Admit: Elderly residential care, Elm Lodge, Bed 1A, Planned, Voluntary self
2 Mar	Admitted to hospital after a fall	Start absence: Hospital, expected back 9 Mar
9 Mar	Returns	Record return
12 Mar	Needs a ground-floor room	Move bed: Bed G2, reason Clinical
1 May	Starts attending the day centre twice a week (a separate programme)	Enrol in: Day centre
18 Nov	Dies in hospital	Discharge: reason Deceased, date of death 18/11/2026. The bed is freed and Ruth's status becomes Deceased.