Amendments
July 2025
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Direct Payments | Text improvements have been made to this chapter following a tri.x review. |
| Receiving a Contact or Referral | Section 5, Identifying Carers has been updated to highlight the importance of identifying informal carers. |
| Actions and Next Steps | This chapter has been replaced with an updated version following a full review. The new version includes an update to Section 2, Providing Information about a Person or Carer to reflect amendments made to the chapter Providing Information about a Person or Carer following a full tri.x legal review. |
| Care and Support Planning | Section 12, The Skilled Conversation: Risk and Contingency has been updated to include transport arrangements in contingency planning. |
| Actions and Next Steps (Carers) |
Section 4, Providing Information about a Carer has been updated to reflect amendments made to the chapter Providing Information about a Person or Carer following a full tri.x legal review. |
| Risk Assessment | This chapter has been replaced following a tri.x review. |
| Interpreter and Translation Services | This chapter has been refreshed following a tri.x review. |
| Protecting Moveable Property | A full tri.x review has been carried out. The chapter has been renamed, and all content has been updated. This included incorporating amendments made to the Care Act 2014 Resource chapter, Protecting Property of Adults being Cared for Away from Home following a recent full legal review. |
| Prisons and Approved Premises | A link to the GOV.UK guidance for prisons on what facilities, services and support to provide to prisoners on a daily basis has been added to Section 1. Using this Procedure and Further Guidance. |
| Acting as an Appropriate Adult | This chapter has been refreshed following a tri.x review. |
| New Procedures and Features | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Co-production | This new chapter has been added to the Universal Procedures. |
| Housing and Homelessness | This new chapter has been added to the Specialist Procedures. |
| Next update: January 2026 |
January 2025
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Safeguarding Adults | The link to the Sefton Safeguarding Adults Partnership Board has been updated. |
| Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Procedure | The link to the ADASS Priority Tool for Deprivation of Liberty Requests has been updated in Section 5, Receiving a Standard Authorisation Request. |
| Direct Payments | This chapter has been refreshed and information about prepaid cards has been added into Section 1, What is a Direct Payment. |
| Deciding the Outcome of a Contact or Reassessment Request | Section 3, What must be considered has been updated to reflect other procedures in the manual. |
| AMHP Procedure | Section 5, How to Contact the Service has been updated to clarify that a request for a Mental Health Act assessment should be made at the earliest possible opportunity. |
| The Skilled Conversation (Carers) |
Section 8, Good Information and Advice and Prevention has been updated to include information about carers leave. |
| The Full Review Conversation (Carers) |
Section 8, Good Information and Advice and Prevention has been updated to include information about carers leave. |
| The Light Touch Review Conversation (Carers) |
Section 8, Good Information and Advice and Prevention has been updated to include information about carers leave. |
| Equality, Diversity and Human Rights | The link to SCIE: Equality Act 2010 – overview for social care has been removed from Section 6, Further Information and Guidance, as the page is no longer available. |
| Recording and Keeping Records | Section 3, Principles of Good Recording has been updated to include links to resources that support anti-discriminatory recording. |
| Providing Information about a Person or Carer | Section 1, Maintaining Confidentiality about a Person or Carer has been amended to clarify that the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR do not prevent the sharing of information for safeguarding purposes. |
| Death of a Person or Carer | Information has been added to Section 2, Notifying Others about notifications that may need to be made when a person/carer dies, including the requirement that local authorities should notify Ofsted of the death of any care leaver under the age of 25, where it is aware of their care leaver status. |
| Deputyship and Financial Affairs | Information about fixed costs and Deputy renumeration has been updated in Section 5, Exploring all Available Options. Information about Sibstar has been added to Section 2, Identifying Support Needs. |
| Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Spaces) Procedure | Amendments have been made to Section 5, Applying for a Mental Health Crisis Breathing Space. This was to reflect the changes to the definition of mental health crisis treatment that were made following the case Kaye v Lees [2023] EWCH 152. |
| Joint Packages of Health and Social Care | An amendment has been made to Section 3, Local Joint Package of Care Arrangements to clarify that the Care and Support Statutory Guidance requires the Local Authority and ICB to agree a local dispute resolution process to resolve any disputes regarding the apportionment of funding in joint funded care and support packages. |
| NHS Continuing Health Care Procedure | Amendments have been made to Section 2, An Introduction to NHS Continuing Healthcare Funding and Section 5, Providing Information and Advice about NHS Continuing Healthcare. This included adding information about PUPoC (Previously unassessed periods of care). |
| End of Life Procedures and Practice Guidance | Information about The Victoria and Stuart Project end of life care planning toolkit has been added to Section 12, Learning Disability. The Skills for Care Common Core Principles and Competencies has been removed and replaced with The Universal Principles for Advance Care Planning in Section 7, Good Practice Guidance for End of Life Care. |
| No Recourse to Public Funds | Section 11, Meeting Needs and Review has been updated to include information about alternative temporary housing options that can be explored. Section 13, People with NRPF who are Receiving After-Care under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 has also been refreshed and a link added to the Section 117 Aftercare Procedure. |
| Understanding the Mental Health Act 1983 | Text improvements have been made. This included adding information about the Right Care Right Person guidance used by the police and the interface between the Mental Health Act and the Mental Capacity Act 2005. |
| New Procedures and Features | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Learning Disability and Autism | This team has been added. |
July 2024
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Procedure | Relevant text amendments have been made throughout to reflect the feedback received following a full tri.x legal review. In addition to this, information about use of the ADASS Priority Tool for Deprivation of Liberty Requests has been added to Section 5, Receiving a Standard Authorisation Request. Also, Section 4, Understanding the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards has been updated to provide additional clarity about continuous supervision, free to leave and state imputability. In Section 5, Receiving a Standard Authorisation Request a ‘need to know’ box has been added with information about responding to requests from an eligible person. |
| Recognising and Responding to Deprivations of Liberty | This procedure has been updated following a full tri.x legal review. |
| Financial Assessment | This procedure has been replaced with an updated version following a full review. This new version reflects feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Charging and Assessing Financial Resources’. |
| Introduction, Legal Requirements and Tools (Occupational Therapy) | Text amendments have been made to the section ‘The Purpose of any Assessment’. These amends have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The Purpose of Assessment’. |
| Preparing to Establish Needs (Occupational Therapy) | Text amendments have been made to the section ‘Arranging the Assessment and Preparing the Person’. These amends have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Understanding and Applying Eligibility Criteria (Occupational Therapy) | Section 3, Applying the Eligibility Criteria has been updated to include information from the Care and Support statutory guidance about establishing whether the person's needs arise from a physical or mental impairment or illness. Also, minor text amendments have also been made. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The National Eligibility Criteria’. |
| Introduction, Legal Requirements and Tools | Text amendments have been made to the section ‘The Purpose of any Assessment’. These amends have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The Purpose of Assessment’. |
| Understanding and Applying Eligibility Criteria | Section 3, Applying the Eligibility Criteria has been updated to include information from the Care and Support statutory guidance about establishing whether the person's needs arise from a physical or mental impairment or illness. Also, minor text amendments have also been made. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The National Eligibility Criteria’. |
| Requesting a Financial Assessment | Text amendments have been made to reflect changes made to the procedure ‘Financial Assessment’. |
| Setting an Indicative Budget | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Care and Support Planning | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Signing Off a Care and Support Plan and Agreeing a Final Personal Budget | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Arranging Support and Services | Section 9, Out of Area Services has been updated to reflect amendments made previously to Ordinary Residence procedures following a legal review. |
| Legal Requirements of a Care and Support Plan Review and Tools | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Preparing to Carry out a Care and Support Plan Review | Text amendments have been made to the section ‘Arranging the Review and Preparing the Person’. These amends have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| The Light Touch Review Conversation | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Preparing to Establish Needs (Child's Needs Assessment) | Text amendments have been made to the section ‘Arranging the Review and Preparing the Person’. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Preparing to Establish the Needs of Parent carers (Carer's Transition) | Text amendments have been made to the Section 5, Arranging the Assessment and Preparing the Parent Carer. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Preparing to Establish the Needs of Young Carers (Carer's Transition) | Text amendments have been made to the Section 5, Arranging the Assessment and Preparing the Young Carer. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Introduction, Legal Requirements and Tools (Carers) | Text amendments have been made to the Section 3, The Purpose of any Assessment. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The Purpose of Assessment’. |
| Preparing to Establish Needs (Carers) | Text amendments have been made to the Section 5, Arranging the Assessment and Preparing the Carer. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Understanding and Applying Eligibility Criteria (Carers) | Minor text amendments have been made to the Section 3, Applying the Eligibility Criteria. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘The National Eligibility Criteria’. |
| Support Planning (Carers) | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Signing off a Support Plan and Agreeing a Final Personal Budget (Carers) | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Legal Requirements of a Support Plan Review and Tools (Carers) | This procedure has been amended to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource section ‘Meeting Needs’. |
| Preparing to Carry out a Support Plan Review (Carers) | Text amendments have been made to the Section 5, Arranging the Review and Preparing the Care’. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Carrying Out an Assessment’. |
| Social Media (use of) | Twitter has been changed to X (formerly Twitter). |
| Deputyship and Financial Affairs | Information has been added to Section 4, Concerns About an Appointee, Deputy or Donee and Section 5, Exploring All Available Options to clarify that the Court of Protection can also revoke a Deputyship or Lasting Power of Attorney. Further information was also added to Section 6, Making a Property and Affairs Deputyship Application regarding notifications. |
| Joint Packages of Health and Social Care | Relevant text amendments have been made throughout to reflect the feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the NHS Continuing Healthcare Procedure. |
| NHS Continuing Health Care Procedure | Relevant text amendments have been made throughout to reflect the feedback received following a full tri.x legal review. |
| NHS-funded Nursing Care Procedure (FNC) | Relevant text amendments have been made throughout to reflect the feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the NHS Continuing Healthcare Procedure. |
| End of Life Procedures and Practice Guidance | The SCIE End of Life Hub has been removed from Section 7, Good Practice Guidance for End of Life as it is no longer available. It has been replaced with BASW guidance: The role of social workers in palliative, end of life and bereavement care. |
| Continuity of Care Arrangements | Text amendments have been made to Section 1, An Introduction to Continuity of Care Arrangements. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Continuity of Care when a Person Moves’. |
| Service Interruptions and Provider Failure | Minor text amendments have been made to Section 3, Failure of a Regulated Provider. These amendments have been made to reflect feedback received following a full tri.x legal review of the Care Act 2014 Resource procedure ‘Commissioning Responsibilities under the Care Act’. |
| Prisons and Approved Premises | Information about the Probation Finder was added to Section 2, Information about Prisons and Approved Premises. |
| Section 117 Aftercare | A scope box has been added to top of this procedure, alerting and signposting practitioners to the statutory guidance issued in January 2024: Discharge from mental health inpatient settings. The procedure has also had a full legal review and additional information has been added in Section 5, Aftercare Planning and Assessment around support to claim benefits in line with the findings of the ombudsman decision NHS Devon ICB (22 008 927b). |
| New Procedures and Features | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Equality, Diversity and Human Rights | This new procedure has been added to the universal section of the procedures |
| Acting as an Appropriate Adult | This new procedure has been added to the specialist section of the procedures. |
January 2024
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Actions and Next Steps (all teams) | Information about the Caldicott Principles has been added to the section ‘Providing Information about a Person/Carer’. |
| Review and Transformation Team | Change of Team name to Review and Transformation Team at this update. |
| Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Procedure | Section 15, Challenging an Authorisation using Section 21 and Section 16, The Future of the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards have been added. |
| Recognising and Responding to Deprivations of Liberty | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. This included moving information about Best Interests into the section ‘Applying to the Court’, adding information about the National Deprivation of Liberty Court and adding a new section ‘Challenging a DoLS Authorisation using Section 21A’. |
| Receving Contact or Referral | A new section has been added ‘Identifying Carers’. |
| Monitoring Actions (Reablement) | Section 8, Reporting Concerns about a Service Provider has been revised to better reflect the remit of the reablement team. |
| The Transition Plan (Transition to Adult Care and Support) | The government toolkit ‘Making Finance Decisions for Young People: Parent and Carer Toolkit’ has been added to the list of tools to support the Transition Plan conversation. |
| Receiving a Contact or Referral | A new section has been added ‘Identifying Carers’. |
| Actions and Next Steps | Information about the Caldicott Principles has been added to the section ‘Providing Information about a Person/Carer’. |
| Actions and Next Steps (Carers) | Information about the Caldicott Principles has been added to the section ‘Providing Information about a Person/Carer’. |
| Providing Information about a Person or Carer | Information about the Caldicott Principles has been added. |
| Deputyship and Financial Affairs | Section 6, Making a Property and Affairs Deputyship Application has been updated to include more information about notifications, and information about Carer’s Card accounts has been added to Section 2, Identifying Support Needs. |
| Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Spaces) Procedure | A new section has been added ‘Final Demand Guide’. Updated in May 2023, the Final Demand Guide provides basic advice for health and social care workers, describing how they can practically help people with debt and mental health problems. |
| Ordinary Residence Procedure | A link to the Section 117 Aftercare procedure section on ordinary residence has been added. |
| No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) | The guidance ‘Supporting Migrants Lacking Mental Capacity in Relation to Immigration Matters’ has been added to Section 1, Using this Procedure and Further Guidance. A link to the government guidance ‘Asylum support’ has been added to Section 7, Providing Information and Advice. Section 11 has been also updated to include Shared Lives placements and the Home Office Status, Verification, Enquiries and Checking service email has been updated. |
| Prisons and Approved Premises | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| Social Circumstances Report | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| Section 117 Aftercare | Section 3, Ordinary Residence has been updated to reflect the Supreme Court judgement R (Worcestershire County Council) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care [2023] UKSC 31. A link to the Community Mental Health Framework for Adults and Older Adults documents has been also added to Section 9, Further Information. |
| New Procedures and Features | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Understanding the Mental Health Act 1983 | This procedure has been added to the manual. |
| Community Mental Health Framework | This procedure has been added to the manual. |
| Removed Procedures | |
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July 2023
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
Procedures by Teams Safeguarding Adults ASC Teams Review and Transformation Team |
Team Managers and Acting Team Manager information updated. |
| Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Procedure | Section 4, Understanding the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards was updated to provide greater clarity on state imputability. |
| Recognising and Responding to Deprivation of Liberty | Section 2, Identifying Deprivation of Liberty (aged 18 and over) and Section 5, Identifying and Responding to Deprivation of Liberty ( aged 16 and 17) were both updated to provide greater clarity on state imputability. |
| Receiving a Contact and a Referral | A note has been added to the section receiving a text communication which says there is no facility to receive a text message via the 8x8 Telephony System. |
| Deciding the Outcome of a Contact or Referral (All variations) | The Ordinary Residence section had been reviewed and refreshed. |
| Actions and Next Steps (All variations) | Information from this procedure relating to providing information about a person / carer has been used to create a new standalone procedure in the Universal Procedures section. |
| Recording and Keeping Records | The Providing Information about a Person or Carer has been linked to this policy |
| Providing Information about a Person or Carer | This new procedure has been added to the Universal Procedures. The information previously sat in the procedure ‘Actions and Next Steps’ but has been relocated. |
| Joint Packages of Health and Social Care | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| Section 117 Aftercare Procedure | A New Procedure has been added in the Mental Health and Social Work Section. |
| End of Life Procedures and Practice Guidance | Section 10, Advanced Care Planning has been refreshed to include information about the universal principles of Advanced Care Planning. |
| No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) | This procedure has been refreshed throughout and amended to reflect changes to the immigration status requirements for people from EEA countries. |
| NHS Continuing Healthcare Procedure | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| NHS Funded Nursing Care Procedures | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| Ordinary Residence Procedure | Section 5, Meeting the Urgent Needs of a Person who is not Ordinarily Resident was reviewed and refreshed. |
| Deputyship and Financial Affairs | This procedure has been fully reviewed and refreshed. |
| Removed Procedures | |
| Care Programme Approach | This procedure has been deleted as the Care Programme Approach has been suspended by the Community Mental Health Framework. |
January 2023
| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Welcome to our Procedures, Practice Guidance and Tools for Adult Services | A note has been added to the main introduction text, advising users to check the local resources area for any additional local guidance that should be used alongside the local content. |
| Care and Support Planning | Section 14, Deciding how the Plan will be Reviewed and Monitored has been revised to be better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Support Plans should be revised. |
| Legal Requirements of a Care and Support Plan Review and tools | Section 3, Legal Requirements of Review and Section 6, Responding to a Review Request have both been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Care and Support plans should be reviewed. |
| Preparing to Carry out a Care and Support Plan review | Section 5, Arranging the Review and Preparing the Person has been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Care and Support Plans should be reviewed. |
| Actions Following a Care and Support Plan Review | Section 2, Deciding the Timeframes for the Next Review has been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Care and Support plans should be reviewed. |
| AMHP Procedure | Section 5, Contact details have been updated. |
| Support Planning | Section 13, Deciding How the Plan will be Reviewed and Monitored has been revised to be better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Support Plans should be revised. |
| Legal Requirements of a Support Plan Review and tools (Carers) | Section 3, Legal Requirements of Review and Section 6, Responding to a Review request have both been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Care and Support plans should be reviewed. |
| Preparing to Carry Out a Support Plan Review (Carers) | Section 5, Arranging the Review and Preparing the Carer has been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Support Plans should be reviewed. |
| Actions Following a Support Plan Review (Carers) | Section 2, Deciding the Timeframes for the Next Review has been revised to better clarify the statutory requirements around the frequency in which Care and Support Plans should be reviewed. |
| Deputyship and Financial Affairs | Section 6, Making a Deputyship Application- information about notifying interested parties has been added. |
| Social Circumstances Report | Section 2, A Brief Introduction to Social Circumstances Reports has been updated to clarify who can complete a social circumstance report and Section 6, Writing the Report has been updated to include links to HM Courts and Tribunals Services forms. |
| Whole site | A link to the new policy Recording and Keeping Records has been added to the following: All recording should be in line with local recording requirements. For further guidance see: Recording and Keeping Records. |
| Whole site | Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) have been replaced with Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). |
| New Procedures and Features | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Recording and Keeping Records | This new procedure has been added to 'Specialist and Universal Procedures'. |
July 2022
| Updated Structure | |
| Procedures by Team | 'Mental Health' has been renamed 'Substance Use Team, CMHT's and AMHP'. |
| Substance Use Team | The following procedures have been removed from this team as they are not relevant:
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| Occupational Therapy and Sensory Team | The following procedure has been removed, pending review as it does not reflect current practise:
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| Updated Procedures | |
| Procedure Title | Details |
| Team Introductions | The following team introductions have been updated:
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| Liberty Protection Safeguards | The procedure has been updated to reflect revised implementation timescales. A link to the current consultation documents has also been added. |
| Financial Assessment | This procedure has been extensively localised to reflect local processes and requirements. |
