Actions and Next Steps (Croydon Adult Support)

1. Transferring a Contact

It is important that the person/carer making contact speaks to the right practitioner at the right time.

Transferring a telephone contact

Requests to speak to a practitioner or service

The Croydon Adult Support will often receive telephone contacts requesting to speak to a named worker or a particular service. However, this may or may not be the best person for them to speak to.

When the person/carer making the contact requests specifically to speak to or be contacted by a particular team or person you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner/service.

You should check available systems to establish whether:

1. The person/carer is allocated to the practitioner they have requested to speak to; or
2. The service/team is responsible for either the assessment or review of the person/carers needs.

You should not transfer a telephone call to a named worker if it is clear that the worker is not allocated to the person/carer. This will not be helpful to the worker or to the person/carer as they will not be speaking to the right person to resolve the contact.

If a Service Issue is reported

A service issue arises when a person or carer contacts to say that the expected service has not been provided or has not been delivered in a satisfactory way. For example if Meals on Wheels do not arrive or a domiciliary care staff member does not arrive on time.

All service issues should be transferred to Brokerage who will contact the provider to resolve any issues or take appropriate action.

Transferring the contact

All transferring of calls should take place in line with the Local Communication Protocol. This is available in the Local Resources area by clicking here.

What to do if the practitioner the telephone contact is being transferred to is not available

If the practitioner is not available you should try and establish when they may become available by looking at any electronic calendars they use or speaking with a member of the service/team they are based in.

If you know when the practitioner is likely to become available you should:

1. Inform the person/carer of this;
2. Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, any action undertaken and confirming the information given to the person about when to expect a call back;
3. Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required should the practitioner be unavailable for more than a few hours;
4. Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact at the expected time; and
5. Make a proportionate record of all the above.

If it is not clear when the practitioner will become available you should;

1. Inform the person/carer of this;
2. Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, any action undertaken and what information has been given to the person/carer;
3. Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required; and
4. Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
5. Make a proportionate record of all the above.

Transferring a written, email or text contact

Contacts for a named practitioner

When a written contact is addressed to a named worker or a particular service you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner/service.

You should check available systems to establish whether:

1. The person/carer is allocated to the practitioner they have addressed the written contact to; or
2. The service/team is responsible for either the assessment or review of the person/carers needs.

You should not transfer a written contact to a named worker if it is clear that the worker is not allocated to the person/carer. This will not be helpful to the worker or to the person/carer as they will not be dealing with the right person to resolve the contact.

Transferring the contact

Before transferring the contact you should:

1. Confirm that the practitioner the written communication is being transferred to is available within a reasonable timeframe for the action indicated by the contact, or that there is a mechanism in place for the written contact to be received and managed by the service in which they work;
2. Where the communication is a letter or an email, whether the practitioner wishes to receive the original contact (if not this should be filed securely); and
3. Where a written response confirming the contact has been received is required or requested, agree who will provide this.

The most secure way to transfer a written contact is to send a message to the practitioner or service alerting them to the contact and where it can be found on the recording system.

Any original copies of emails must be sent via internal secure email systems only and any original letters must be sent via internal postal services or secure delivery only.

Click here to access the local Data Protection policy.

What to do if the practitioner the written contact is being transferred to is not available

If the practitioner is not available within a reasonable timeframe for the action indicated by the contact you should:

1. Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, where it can be found on the recording system and any action undertaken, including what has been agreed with the person/carer if contact has been made with them;
2. Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required and writing any acknowledgement letter to confirm arrival of the contact;
3. When the practitioner is not available within any timeframes indicted in the written contact or for more than a few days inform the person/carer making the contact of this;
4. Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
5. Make a proportionate record of all the above.

2. Transferring a Non-Urgent Referral

When the service the referral should be transferred to is clear

Sometimes it is clear which service in the Local Authority should receive the referral that has been made. Where this is clear the referral can be transferred to that service.

The service area or team receiving the referral should make effective use of the information gathered thus far and not make the person/ carer (or anyone else previously consulted) repeat information unnecessarily.

When the service the referral should be transferred to is unclear

Sometimes it is less clear which service should receive a referral. Perhaps the service criteria are not clear or the person/carer's needs could potentially be met by more than one service.

Decision making in this instance should be as simple and consistent as possible. It should involve the person and the potential services with the aim of reaching a shared agreement. Any delays should not negatively impact the person or put them at risk through the delay of any Care and Support needs being met.

It would be prudent to apply the same criteria when deciding the most appropriate service that the Care Act requires to be applied when deciding the most appropriate worker:

1. The views and wishes of the person about which service/team would best support them must be regarded;
2. The service/team must possess the skills, knowledge and competence to carry out the anticipated Care and Support functions; and
3. The service/team must possess the skills, knowledge and competence required to work with the particular person in question.

Click here to access a tri.x tool that can support consistent decision making about team suitability.

Where a decision cannot be reached the service must make a decision about which team the referral is transferred to.

The Duty to Provide Independent Advocacy

Whenever the outcome of a contact or referral is that the person/carer will be involved in any adult Care and Support process (including any assessment, review, reassessment or safeguarding) the Local Authority has a duty under the Care Act to make an independent advocate available to the person/carer when:

1. There is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
2. They feel that the person/carer would experience substantial difficulty being fully involved in the Care and Support process without support.

Decisions about the need for advocacy should be made as early as possible because advocacy must be provided before the Care and Support function to be carried out can begin. As such if you know that advocacy will be likely you should discuss this with the person and make a referral at the same time as you transfer the request for a review or reassessment.

Click here to find out more about the advocacy duty, including how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.

The Duty to Provide Information and Advice around Financial Assessment

The Local Authority has a duty to provide good information around finances at an early stage. This provides people with an understanding from the beginning about how they may be expected to contribute financially towards the cost of any Care and Support/Support they receive so that they can start thinking about and planning how they could use their financial resources flexibly to fund a range of potential care options. You should take any opportunity to provide this information, and should particularly make sure that it has been provided whenever a transfer is made to another service that may result in an assessment, review or reassessment.

For information relating to the specific financial information that must be provided under the Care Act click here.

Click here to see the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

Note: This FAQ is based on statutory duties and powers and does not reflect Croydon Councils policy to provide all carers services on a non-chargeable basis.

The Customer Financial Affairs Team also have a Charging Helpline open between the hours of 9-5 Monday-Friday. The number is 020 8760 5676.

3. Transferring a Non-Urgent Review or Reassessment Request

What is a Review

A review is the mechanism by which an existing Care and Support Plan is evaluated. This can lead to a revision of the plan or further intervention, such as a reassessment of need.

Under the Care Act, when a person is already receiving Care and Support from the Local Authority they may request a review of their Care and Support Plan at any time and the Local Authority must consider the request. Where the request is deemed reasonable the Local Authority has a duty to review the plan.

Where a change is requested to a plan and there is no planned review scheduled consideration should be given to arranging an unplanned review. Any review must be proportionate to the needs of the person and undertaken in a timely way so as to reduce the risk of a crisis developing and needs not being met.

What is a Reassessment

A reassessment is an assessment of the needs of a person who is had their needs assessed previously.

A reassessment can only occur if there has been a change in the person's needs and is often identified during the review process.

Transferring a Request to an allocated worker/responsible team

Before transferring the review or reassessment request you should:

1. Confirm that the practitioner the review request is being transferred to is available; and
2. That that their availability coincides with any urgent timeframes or deadlines indicated by the review; or
3. That there is a mechanism in place for the review request to be received and managed by the service in which they work.

What to do if the practitioner the review or reassessment request is being transferred to is not available (or not available to act within any urgent timeframes/deadlines)

If the practitioner is not available you should speak with a manager in the team in which they are based to establish whether:

1. The request should still be transferred to the allocated worker to action when they become available;
2. The request should instead be transferred to the service/team in which the allocated worker is based;
3. An urgent review is required by this service.

If the decision is for this service to undertake an urgent review, click here to access the procedure for carrying out an urgent review.

The Duty to Provide Independent Advocacy

Whenever the outcome of a contact or referral is that the person/carer will be involved in any adult Care and Support process (including any assessment, review, reassessment or safeguarding) the Local Authority has a duty under the Care Act to make an independent advocate available to the person/carer when:

1. There is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
2. They feel that the person/carer would experience substantial difficulty being fully involved in the Care and Support process without support.

Decisions about the need for advocacy should be made as early as possible because advocacy must be provided before the Care and Support function to be carried out can begin. As such if you know that advocacy will be likely you should discuss this with the person and make a referral at the same time as you transfer the request for a review or reassessment.

Click here to find out more about the advocacy duty, including how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.

The Duty to Provide Information and Advice around Financial Assessment

The Local Authority has a duty to provide good information around finances at an early stage. This provides people with an understanding from the beginning about how they may be expected to contribute financially towards the cost of any Care and Support/Support they receive so that they can start thinking about and planning how they could use their financial resources flexibly to fund a range of potential care options. You should take any opportunity to provide this information, and should particularly make sure that it has been provided whenever a transfer is made to another service that may result in an assessment, review or reassessment.

For information relating to the specific financial information that must be provided under the Care Act click here.

Click here to see the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

Note: This FAQ is based on statutory duties and powers and does not reflect Croydon Councils policy to provide all carers services on a non-chargeable basis.

The Customer Financial Affairs Team also have a Charging Helpline open between the hours of 9-5 Monday-Friday. The number is 020 8760 5676.

4. Safeguarding Triage

The adult safeguarding procedures should be followed whenever:

1. The team undertakes safeguarding triage;
2. A safeguarding concern needs to be raised.

If you are concerned that an adult or child is in imminent danger from abuse or neglect, or that a criminal act has taken place you should contact the police by dialling 999.

5. Taking a Referral for Assessment or Support

If the information gathered during a telephone contact suggests the person would benefit from further assessment or intervention a referral should be taken so long as:

1. The person the referral relates to is making the referral;
2. The person the referral relates to has given their consent to the referral; or
3. The person that the referral relates to lacks mental capacity to make a referral and a decision has been made under Best Interests that a referral should be made; or
4. The person that the referral relates to is at risk of harm from abuse or neglect.

The following information should be included in a referral:

1. All personal details, including the persons full name (and also preferred name or previous surname), address and preferred contact details, date of birth, national insurance number and NHS number;
2. The name, relationship and contact details of the person making the referral (if not the person themselves);
3. When and how the person consented to the referral;
4. If the person has not consented to the referral, was a mental capacity assessment carried out and is the referral being made under Best Interests;
5. What the presenting issue is from the person's perspective and what they would like to happen;
6. What the presenting issue is from the referrer's point of view (if the referrer is not the person) and what action they may recommend;
7. What options have been considered with the person to resolve the issue so far, including what support the person has had from family and community networks;
8. What information and advice has been provided to the person or what information and advice may be required;
9. What prevention services have been used, considered or may be of benefit;
10. Any specific communication needs of the person that need to be considered so they can understand and be involved in any adult Care and Support process;
11. Whether the person is likely to have substantial difficulty in any adult Care and Support process, and if so whether an independent advocate has been considered;
12. Details of any previous or current Care and Support services (whether the Local Authority is providing them or not);
13. With the person's consent the name and contact details of anyone involved in their life who should be involved in any assessment (family member, friend or professional); and
14. Any other information deemed relevant by the person or referrer (if the referrer is not the person).

6. Providing Information and Advice

The Local Authority (and anyone representing the Local Authority) has a duty under Section 4 of the Care Act to either provide directly, or provide access to a range of information and advice relating to adult Care and Support, including financial advice. This duty applies equally in respect of all local residents regardless of whether the person with Care and Support needs or carer is known to, lives in, or is already receiving services from the Local Authority.

Click here to read more about the duty to provide information and advice under the Care Act, including how information and advice should be provided and the specific information and advice requirements around finances.

The provision of information and advice is a primary function of the Croydon Adult Support Team and there are a number of resources available to practitioners and people requesting the information and advice that can be accessed;

1. To access information online, go to www.croydon.gov.uk/healthsocial/adult-care;
2. To access information in person visit Access Croydon, Bernard Weatherhill House, 8 Mint Walk, Croydon, CR0 1EA.

Click here to see the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

Note: This FAQ is based on statutory duties and powers and does not reflect Croydon Councils policy to provide all carers services on a non-chargeable basis.

The following local organisations are also able to provide general information and advice relating to adult Care and Support:

Advice Services Croydon
020 8686 0066
asc@adviceservicescroydon.org.uk
directory.ageukcroydon.org.uk/

Disability Croydon
50 High Street
Croydon
CR0 1YB
020 8688 3622
dcsupport@disabilitycroydon.org.uk

Citizens Advice Bureau
48-50 Portland Road
South Norwood
London
SE25 4PQ

1. Drop In for advice Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am-12 noon;
2. Online Advice Service: (www.citizensadvicecroydon.org) Fill in the online form to request advice;
3. Telephone advice line: 020 8684 2236, available Monday and Friday 12 noon-2.30pm and Wednesday and Thursday 10am -11.30am;
4. Advice online at the website on a range of matters, including benefits, work, debt, housing, law and rights, healthcare, etc (www.citizensadvicecroydon.org/);
5. Access Croydon can also process a referral to the Citizens Advice Bureau.

The following local organisations can also provide more bespoke information and advice;

Information and advice may be required about local options available for a person to meet their needs in relation to equipment and adaptations.

The following are local organisations able to provide this advice;

Community Equipment Service
Croydon Living Independently Centre
3 Imperial Way
Croydon
CR0 4RR

Email: cesadmin@croydon.gov.uk
Phone: 020 8664 8860
Visit the website www.croydon.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/community-equipment-service-ces

NRS Healthcare
www.nrshealthcare.co.uk/
Phone: 0345 121 8111
Email for Advice: productadvice@nrs-uk.co.uk.

Ask Sara
Ask Sara is a website providing interactive live equipment advice at croydon.livingmadeeasy.org.uk.

Note: Whenever you signpost someone to any of the above you must also advise them of their right to an assessment, and that if they are eligible for support equipment up to the value of £1000 is non-chargeable.

Sometimes it is helpful to contact a well known national organisation with a dedicated information and advice service or help-line. Click here for details of some national organisations offering this service.

Some national organisations do not have dedicated information and advice services but can still provide such support upon request. Click here for a wider range of useful national contacts for adult Care and Support.

Information and advice must be provided in an accessible way so that the person for whom it is intended can best understand and make use of it.

If you feel the person for whom the information and advice is intended will need support to understand it then you should:

1. Consider whether the person has anyone appropriate who can help them to understand it;
2. Consider any steps that you can take to support them to understand it (for example talking through the information over the telephone or summarising it in a simpler format); and
3. Consider the benefit of independent advocacy.

7. Following Up on Information and Advice

Under the Care Act the Local Authority has a duty to not only provide information and advice where it is needed, but to ensure that the information and advice it provides has been effective.

Therefore, when information and advice has been provided you should make appropriate arrangements to follow up with the person/carer to whom it was given in order to review how effective it has been.

The timescales for this follow up should be agreed with the person/carer to whom the information and advice was given and should reflect the individual circumstances and level of risk.

Where you are making arrangements for someone else to follow up on the information and advice you have given (rather than following up on it yourself) you must make sure that you have recorded this in a way that will ensure the person follows up on it at the agreed time.

8. Providing Information about a Person

The Local Authority has a common law and legal duty to safeguard the confidentiality of all personal information. As an employee of the Local Authority you are bound contractually to respect the confidentiality of any information that you may come into contact with. Under no circumstances should such information be divulged or passed to any persons or organisation in any form unless you have authorisation to do so.

All information sharing that takes place must be in line with data protection legislation (namely the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018) and local policy.

The Caldicott Principles must also be regarded. The Caldicott Principles are a set of principles that apply to the use of confidential information within health and social care organisations and when such information is shared with other organisations and between individuals, both for individual care and for other purposes. For further information, see: The Caldicott Principles.

Any unauthorised disclosure of confidential information may result in disciplinary action of individual prosecution under the Data Protection Act 2018.

For further information and guidance, see: Providing Information about a Person or Carer.

9. Accessing a Prevention Service

Under section 2 of the Care Act the Local Authority cannot provide intensive or on-going long term interventions until it is satisfied that prevention services having been explored and deemed not suitable.

There are many kinds of prevention service available. Some are provided by the Local Authority and some are provided by the community or partner organisations, such as health. You should explore all available prevention services in the local area before taking any other action.

Click here to read about the different types of prevention services described in the Care Act.

In Croydon, the local approach is to work with partners on prevention in a way which is:

1. Personalised-responsive and flexible depending on the person;
2. Based on what people want to achieve in their lives;
3. Asset focused-building on what people and their communities can do and promoting new ideas;
4. A positive experience-engaging with people and learning as part of continuous improvement;
5. Integrated-whole system approach where services work in a joined up and seamless way; and
6. Efficient-better use of resources and understanding how they work.

If you feel that a prevention service may be an appropriate service for the person/carer you can use the links below to find out about how to access different services.

Click here to find out about accessing the Reablement service (part of the LIFE Team).

Click here to access the Telecare and Careline Plus procedures.

Click here to find out about accessing the Adult Community Occupational Therapy Service (ACOT).

Click here to find out about accessing the health and wellbeing service Just Live Well.

10. Using Independent Advocacy

The Advocacy Duty

Whenever the outcome of a contact or referral is that the person/carer will be involved in any adult Care and Support process (including any assessment, or safeguarding) the Local Authority has a duty under the Care Act to make an independent advocate available to the person/carer when:

1. There is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
2. They feel that the person/carer would experience substantial difficulty being fully involved in the Care and Support process without support.

Click here to access a tri.x tool that can support effective and consistent decision making about when/which advocacy support should be made available.

The Local Authority also has a power (but not a duty) to make advocacy available in other situations on a case by case basis if it deems this appropriate and is able to do so. This could include advocacy to support a person/carer to understand information and advice, or advocacy to support a person/carer to explore possible options available to them.

If you are not clear what the local arrangements are for the provision of independent advocacy for information and advice please speak with your line manager before making a referral.

The Difference between substantial difficulty and lacking mental capacity

Having substantial difficulty is not the same as lacking mental capacity.

Click here for information about how to determine substantial difficulty.

Click here to access the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Resource and Practice Toolkit, which contains guidance about assessing capacity and making best interest decisions.

An appropriate person

An appropriate person for general representation purposes is not the same as an appropriate person for independent advocacy under the Care Act.

Click here for information about the difference and how to establish whether there is already an appropriate person.

The role of the Independent Advocate

The role of an independent advocate appointed under the Care Act is not the same as the role of a general advocate or any other type of advocate (for example an Independent Mental Capacity Advocate or an Independent Mental Health Advocate).

An independent advocate appointed under the Care Act must both facilitate and maximise the involvement of the person with substantial difficulty in the Care and Support process that is taking place.

For information about the ways in which an independent advocate should fulfil their role click here.

Advocacy for people who lack Capacity

People who lack capacity will likely be legally entitled to advocacy under both the Care Act and the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

The Care Act statutory guidance recognises that it would not normally be appropriate or practical for a person to have 2 advocates and gives the Local Authority the responsibility to make a decision about the best type of advocacy support.

There are various factors that should influence this decision (such as existing rapport with an advocate or whether any important decisions are likely to be the outcome of the Care and Support process) and the Local Authority must ensure that whatever it decides, it does not deny the person any of the specialist advocacy skills they need or are entitled to.

Use the tri.x Resource tab to access information about the role of an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) in the glossary.

Click here to access a tri.x tool that can support effective and consistent decision making about when/which advocacy support should be made available.

Advocacy for people subject to the Mental Health Act

People eligible for an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) under the Mental Health Act 1983 will likely be entitled to advocacy under the Care Act.

The Care Act statutory guidance recognises that it would not normally be appropriate or practical for a person to have 2 advocates and gives the Local Authority the responsibility to make a decision about the best type of advocacy support.

There are various factors that should influence this decision (such as existing rapport with an advocate or the likely outcome of the Care and Support process) and the Local Authority must ensure that whatever it decides, it does not deny the person any of the specialist advocacy skills they need or are entitled to.

Use the tri.x Resource tab to access information about the role of an Independent Mental Health Advocate (IMHA) in the glossary.

Click here to access a tri.x tool that can support effective and consistent decision making about when/which advocacy support should be made available.

Making a Referral for Independent Advocacy

The advocacy referral can be made at any time and should be made without delay as soon as the duty applies, even if the service making the referral will not be the service carrying out the Care and Support process. The Care and Support process requiring advocacy support cannot begin until it is in place.

Advocacy for All

Advocacy for All are commissioned to provide a full range of advocacy services in Croydon, including:

1. Care Act advocacy;
2. Independent Mental Capacity Act advocacy (IMCA);
3. Independent Mental Health Act advocacy (IMHA);
4. NHS complaints advocacy;
5. General advocacy for people with a learning disability;
6. General mental health advocacy;
7. DoLS advocacy;
8. Acting as a Responsible Person's Representative (RPR).

MIND

If Advocacy for All does not have capacity to provide the required service MIND should be used.

Family Justice Centre

The Family Justice Centre provide an Independent Domestic Violence Advocacy service (IDVA).

Age UK

Age UK can provide an advocacy service for older people where there are concerns around financial abuse.

Out of borough advocacy

If the person requiring advocacy has been placed by Croydon out of borough you should contact the relevant Local Authority to identify their locally commissioned advocacy provider and arrange an advocate from this service.

Recording advocacy

When advocacy is arranged the name of the advocate should be recorded on LAS using the most appropriate relationship type.

What to do if Independent Advocacy is not available or delayed

Regardless of whether or not independent advocacy is available in the local area the duty to provide it still applies. A failure to do so is a breach of this duty and of the law. It is the role of commissioners to ensure that advocacy services are in place and available when required, and it is the role of practitioners to make timely referrals to advocates to prevent unnecessary delays in the meeting of its duty.

If you are aware that advocacy support is required and is not yet available you must not proceed to carry out any Care and Support process until it is in place.

In some circumstances urgent interim measures may need to be agreed without an advocate in place in order to reduce immediate risk to the person from inaction. However, Care and Support processes that will decide long term and important decisions must not be carried out without advocacy support.

Click here to see the procedures for providing urgent support, including access to a tool to support consistent decision making in determining urgent needs.

What to do if the person does not want to use advocacy

The duty upon the Local Authority is to make independent advocacy support available to any person who requires it. Once made available the duty is met.

If a person decides that they do not wish to engage in the advocacy support that has been made available to them they do not have to do so, but the Local Authority must still provide it.

The Local Authority is expected under the Care Act to support the person to understand the role of an advocate and promote its benefit to them so as to reduce the likelihood that they will not engage.

For information about the role and benefit of an independent advocate click here.

11. Urgent or Interim Support

When urgent or interim support can be provided

Not everyone contacts the Local Authority in a timely way so as to allow for an assessment and exploration of options to take place prior to any initial decisions being made about the need for Care and Support.

For example, some people only approach the Local Authority when they are in a time of crisis, high risk or when there is a sudden or unexpected change in their Wellbeing.

In these cases there may appear to be an urgent need for support that cannot wait for an assessment or review process to be carried out.

The Care Act recognises this occurrence and gives the Local Authority powers to meet such needs without having carried out a formal assessment process.

Click here to see what the Care Act says about meeting urgent needs without an assessment or review.

Having the power to meet needs without an assessment or review means that the Local Authority can decide whether or not to do so, based on the available information and specific circumstances of the person and their situation.

Deciding how to meet interim needs

Under the Care Act, the Local Authority can put any interim or urgent measures in place that it deems appropriate to meet the needs of the person and manage the situation. This can range from a small number of domiciliary care visits to a stay in residential accommodation.

The same legal considerations apply when meeting urgent needs as they do when meeting non-urgent needs:

1. The impact on the person's individual wellbeing;
2. Whether any preventative service can be provided that will delay, reduce or prevent the need for Care and Support;
3. Whether information and advice can be provided to support the person to find their own solution, or to delay, reduce or prevent the need for Care and Support.

It is vital that you understand your duties in relation to the above. Please sue the links below to access further information as required.

Click here to access information about the duty to promote individual wellbeing.

Click here to access information about the duty to prevent, reduce or delay needs.

Click here to access information about the duty to provide good information and advice.

In addition, you should be mindful that nobody has yet assessed (or reassessed) the needs of the person and you may be relying on historical information or information from sources currently under significant strain or pressure to act. As such the information presented may or may not be an accurate reflection of the person's needs following an assessment.

Interim support should therefore only be seen as a temporary measure to reduce risk of harm and support the person to a place in time where a needs assessment can be carried out and long term options explored and agreed with them. As such, you should be cautious about providing interim Care and Support that may be problematic to cease following assessment.

Click here to access a tri.x tool to support consistent decision making about the provision of urgent or interim support.

A Strengths Based Approach

Wherever possible, every conversation with a person should be from a strengths perspective. This means that before you talk about service solutions to the presenting issue you must support the person to explore whether there is:

1. Anything within their own power that they can do to help themselves; or
2. Anything within the power of their family, friends or community that they can use to help themselves.

A strengths based approach is empowering for the person and gives them more control over their situation and how best to resolve any issues in the best way for them. The end result may still be that the Local Authority intervenes with an assessment or other support, but this decision will have been reached knowing that it is the most proportionate response available.

Adopting a strengths based approach involves:

1. Taking a holistic view of the person or carers needs in the context of their wider support network;
2. Helping the person to understand their strengths and capabilities within the context of their situation;
3. Helping the person to understand and explore the support available to them in the community;
4. Helping the person to understand and explore the support available to them through other networks or services (e.g. health);
5. Exploring some of the less intrusive/intensive ways the Local Authority may be able to help (such as through prevention services or signposting.

SCIE have produced clear and practical guidance around how to use a strengths based approach in practice. It can be accessed here. Note: SCIE requires a login to access resources, but any social care practitioner can create one quickly and easily.

Requesting Funding for Urgent or Interim Support

Wherever possible all funding requests should be submitted to Panel. However, where the need for support cannot wait until the next Panel meeting you should discuss the situation with your line manager. If in agreement, the request can be submitted for urgent agreement to the relevant Head of Service. If agreed it should still be submitted to the next Panel meeting for formal ratification of the decision made.

Funding Decisions for Urgent or Interim Support

It is difficult to make a decision about the level of funding required to meet the urgent or interim Care and Support needs because:

1. There will be no personal budget allocated to the person; or
2. There will be a personal budget but this will not be based on their current needs.

The Care Act does not discuss or set funding limitations in relation to the provision of any Care and Support. This includes urgent and interim Care and Support. Instead, the golden rule of the Care Act when making any funding decision is that 'the amount of funding agreed must be sufficient to meet the needs that are to be met at that time'. Decisions must also be made in a way to ensure that the person will be satisfied the process was fair and robust.

Factors other than sufficiency that must be considered when making funding decisions are:

1. The views and wishes of the person about how their needs should be met;
2. The availability of other potential options in the marketplace; and
3. The cost of available suitable services in the marketplace.

Other factors that should be considered are:

1. The complexity of the person's needs;
2. The level of risk/sense of urgency; and
3. Whether the practitioner requesting the funding has provided relevant information and advice, whether they have explored prevention services that may be appropriate and whether they have explored how the person's own networks of support could help; and
4. Where the person is not ordinarily resident; if they receive Care and Support already in another Authority the nature of the Care and Support they receive.

When making a funding decision the Local Authority is also permitted under the Care Act to consider how to balance its legal requirement to maintain universal services to the entire local population with the power to meet the urgent needs of a person or carer. In doing so it must:

1. Not base it's decision on finances alone;
2. Consider things on a case-by-case basis; and
3. Not set arbitrary limits (fixed amounts for a particular type of need or service).

Guidance on the panel process should be followed. It can be found in the Local Resources area by clicking here.

Communicating the outcome

The outcome of the funding decision should be communicated to the person at the earliest opportunity. The method of communication should reflect that requested by the person and any specific communication needs they may have. For the purposes of the Care Act communication about the outcome of a funding decision is subject to the same requirements as the provision of information and advice, and the duty to make it accessible therefore applies equally.

Where communication is provided by telephone a follow up letter confirming the conversation and the funding decision should be sent to the person as a formal record.

When communicating the outcome you should include the following information:

1. The funding decision itself;
2. The rationale for the decision;
3. Any information and advice relating to adult Care and Support, and the prevention, delay or reduction of needs;
4. What will happen next and the timeframes involved;
5. How to complain about any aspect of the decision or proposed outcome.

People and carers can be directed to the Croydon Council website for information about the adult social care complaints process.

Click here to read the complaints policy and procedure.

Recording Urgent and Interim Support

Any funding decision rationale should be clearly recorded.

The Local Authority is not required to record urgent and interim support on a Care and Support Plan because:

1. The support is being provided under the Local Authority's powers (as opposed to duties);
2. The person has not yet been assessed (or reassessed); and
3. There has been no decision about eligible needs.

However, the following must be clearly recorded:

1. The urgent or interim support being provided;
2. The contribution to the cost of the support being made by the Local Authority;
3. The contribution being made by the person;
4. The duration of the support;
5. How the support will be reviewed;
6. What outcomes the support aims to achieve; and
7. The next steps, including timeframes for any assessment.

All recording should be in line with the Local Standards for Timeliness of Recording. The standards can be found in the Local Resources by clicking here.

Arranging Interim or Urgent Support

Under the Care Act the process of arranging to meet urgent and interim Care and Support needs is the same as arranging to meet needs agreed through a non-urgent Care and Support Planning process.

Click here to access the Commissioning and Brokerage Procedures. The Commissioning and Brokerage Procedures include the processes for using any brokerage service to commission a service, commissioning Care and Support services directly, and how to record the services that are being provided on the system.

Charging for Care and Support

The Local Authority is permitted under the Care Act to charge any person for Care and Support (including Care and Support provided on an urgent basis) unless:

1. It chooses not to; or
2. The person has been financially assessed as having insufficient funds to contribute; or
3. The support being provided is reablement (up to 6 weeks is non-chargeable); or
4. The support being provided is equipment (up to the cost of £1000 is non-chargeable).

Click here for further information about charging for all services under the Care Act.

Click here to see the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

Click here to access the procedures relating to financial assessment, which include links to any local policy and financial assessment process.

Urgent Support for people who are not ordinarily resident

Where urgent support is provided to a person who is not ordinarily resident contact should be made at the earliest opportunity to the Local Authority in which they live to inform them of the intention to meet an urgent need.

Where the person is already in support of a service from the other Local Authority information should be gathered to support any decisions made about which support should be provided.

Agreement should be reached with the other Local Authority about how any urgent Care and Support services will be monitored, when they intend to assess for eligible needs and how reimbursement of costs incurred can be sought.

Click here to access a tri.x tool to help determine whether a person is ordinarily resident in the area.

12. Urgent Review or Assessment

Allocated cases

If the person has an allocated worker this person should carry out the assessment, review or reassessment unless the situation is urgent and the worker is unavailable.

Before transferring the review request you should confirm that the practitioner the review request is being transferred to is available.

If the practitioner is not available you should speak with a manager to establish whether:

1. The request should still be transferred to the allocated worker to action when they become available;
2. The request should instead be transferred to another practitioner to carry out the review.

Deciding whether a Review needs allocation

Where the information gathered at contact suggests there has been no change in the person's needs, and that a change to the personal budget amount is not required may be possible to complete a 'light touch' review without further allocation.

Click here for information about the methods of light touch review that should be made available under the Care Act.

When the information gathered at contact suggests there has been a change in need or circumstance, and that a change in the personal budget amount is required any review carried out is likely to lead to a proportionate reassessment of need. Because this is a longer term intervention allocation for this should be considered.

Carrying out the review

Click here to access the procedures for carrying out a Review, including the review conversation, recording a review and revising a Care and Support Plan.

Deciding whether an Assessment or Reassessment needs allocation

Under the Care Act the assessment of need (and subsequent determination about eligibility) is one of the primary Care and Support functions carried out by the Local Authority. As such any assessment of need, urgent or otherwise should be carried out by a named responsible practitioner.

Allocating for a Review, Assessment or Reassessment

Where the decision is for the person/carer's case to be allocated to an individual worker to carry out an urgent assessment, review or other intervention this allocation should take place in a timely way so as to:

1. Avoid any unnecessary delays to the person/carer;
2. Reduce the risk of a deterioration in the situation; and
3. Maximise the use of measures that will prevent, delay or reduce needs.

How to allocate

The Care Act recognises that each worker (regardless of whether or not they have a professional qualification) will possess specific skills, knowledge and experience that will enable them to carry out different Care and Support functions or work with particular people well.

Because of this there is no expectation that a particular role should carry out a particular function; instead the Local Authority should allocate tasks to the most appropriate person for the job.

Allocation decisions should take into account:

1. The skills, knowledge and experience of the worker in carrying out the function or process required;
2. The skills, knowledge and experience of the worker in working with the particular needs of the person (for example health needs or communication needs); and
3. The views and wishes of the person themselves in relation to the skills required of the worker and who they feel would best support them.

Click here to access a tri.x tool that can support consistent decision making when deciding who to allocate work to.