Community Care means providing the services and support for people to enable them to manage day to day living.
There are many different kinds of help available, and we aim to meet the assessed needs of those with;
What to do if you need help?
If you, or a relative or friend, need help, let us know.
You can contact us by:
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Calling into your Local District Office;
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Telephone;
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Letter.
The worker on duty will listen carefully to you, ask questions about the difficulties you, your relative or your friend are having, and tell you what will happen next.
What happens next?
You may need help urgently - for example:
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your carer has suddenly been taken into hospital;
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you are living in unsafe surroundings.
In these instances a trained worker will visit the next working day, but usually within hours if there is a serious risk to that person.
If you don't need help straight away and this is the first time you have contacted community based services ,then the social worker/assessing officer will organise a first contact visit with in two calendar days. The next step is for an assessment to be carried out.
What is an assessment?
An assessment is a way of looking at all of the things you are able to manage for yourself, and also at all the things which you may be having difficulty with, for example getting yourself dressed.
A trained worker from Community Based Services will visit you at home, sometimes on several occasions, to gather all the information necessary to help understand how best to help you. The information you and your carers can give us is very valuable.
Whenever we need to, we ask specialist workers to help us in the assessment, for example, occupational therapists, technical officers for the blind, district nurses, home helps, doctors, physiotherapists. If you need care in a nursing home, we would ask qualified nurses, called community care nurse assessment co-ordinators, to help with the assessment.
The details collected during the assessment are written onto an assessment form.
Developing a Care Plan
When you and your worker feel the assessment is complete, a care plan will be written - either in a letter or a more detailed form depending on the sort of assessment which has been carried out.
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This will state what support is needed to help you, and which services we can offer you.
A copy of the letter or care plan will be given to you, your carer, and anyone else who is involved in caring for you. (Arrangements can be made for appropriate formats eg large print, tape, Braille etc).
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Your worker will keep in touch with you, and a meeting called a review will be held to check things are running smoothly;
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You will be part of this review, to give your opinion on the support you are getting, and to let us know if anything has changed;
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A relative, friend or advocate would be very welcome to be with you at the review, and any further reviews necessary;
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Because situations at home change, sometimes quite quickly, the care arranged for you may also need to change. You will be advised how to alert us to make these changes.
Assessment of the needs of carers
When you are offered an assessment of your needs, a relative or friend who cares for you is entitled to ask for their needs to be taken into account in a carer(s) assessment.
The Council has agreed that three groups of carers are eligible for such an assessment.
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People living in the same household who undertake daily tasks particularly of a personal nature;
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Carers offering 20 hours of care per week (this should reflect regular input rather than be a rigid rule);
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Carers where the need for input is unpredictable.
Your carer can ask to have their assessment carried out with you or separately on their own.
Your carer(s) needs will be taken into account when preparing a care plan which is acceptable to you both.
How much will I have to pay?
You do not have to pay to see a Community Based Services worker, to have an assessment or to receive advice.
There is however, a charge for other services such as:
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day care;
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home help;
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community care;
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meals on wheels;
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respite care;
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and residential care.
Some of these charges may vary according to individual circumstances.
If you are assessed by us as needing a residential or nursing home place, and you need help with the fees, we shall assist you with this. Even if you are able to pay the fees yourself at first, it is advisable to involve us from the beginning, it is advisable to involve Social Services from the beginning, as we would then be able to assist with paying fees should this become necessary at a later date.