Actions and Next Steps (Customer Service Centre)
Amendment
In August 2024, this chapter was reviewed, and some minor text amendments were made. The link to Specific Requirements on the Provision of the Information and Advice around Finances was updated in Section 3, Transferring a Review/Reassessment Request. The Dementia Support Service was changed to the Memory Support Service in Section 5, Providing Information and Advice and a link was added. Telecare, was renamed Telecare and Technology Enabled Care (TEC) and a link to the chapter was added. The link to the SCIE Care Act guidance on strengths-based approaches was also updated in Section 9, Urgent or Interim Support.
It is important that the person/carer making contact speaks to the right practitioner at the right time.
You 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 practitioner, you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner/team.
You should check available systems to establish whether:
- the person/carer is allocated to the practitioner they have requested to speak to; or
- 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 the practitioner is not available
If the practitioner is not available you should provide the contact number of the practitioner/team to the person, advise that you will record the information of the call, and send it to the relevant team for actioning.
If you know when the practitioner is likely to become available, you should (For Area Teams) once they receive the additional information from the Customer Service Centre (CSC):
- inform the person/carer of this;
- 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;
- 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;
- agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact at the expected time; and
- make a proportionate record of all the above.
If it is not clear when the practitioner will become available you should:
- inform the person/carer of this;
- leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, any action undertaken and what information has been given to the person/carer;
- 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
- agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
- make a proportionate record of all the above.
When a written contact is addressed to a named worker you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner.
You should check available systems to establish whether the person/carer is allocated to the practitioner that the written contact is addressed to.
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.
Before transferring the contact you should:
- 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;
- where the communication is a letter or an e-mail, whether the practitioner wishes to receive the original contact (if not this should be filed securely); and
- 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 alerting them to the contact and where it can be found on the recording system.
Any original copies of e-mails must be sent via internal secure e-mail systems only and any original letters must be sent via internal postal services or secure delivery only.
If the practitioner 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 the practitioner is not available within a reasonable timeframe for the action indicated by the contact, you should:
- 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;
- 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;
- 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;
- agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
- make a proportionate record of all the above.
If the information gathered during a telephone contact suggests the person/carer would benefit from a strengths-based conversation/further intervention, a referral should be taken so long as:
- the person/carer the referral relates to is making the referral;
- the person/carer the referral relates to has given their consent to the referral; or
- the person/carer 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
- 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:
- All personal details, including the persons/carers full name (and also preferred name or previous surname), address and preferred contact details, date of birth, national insurance number and NHS number;
- The name, relationship and contact details of the person making the referral (if not the person/carer themselves);
- When and how the person/carer consented to the referral;
- 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;
- What the presenting issue is from the person's/carer's perspective and what they would like to happen;
- What the presenting issue is from the referrer's point of view (if the referrer is not the person/carer) and what action they may recommend;
- What options have been considered with the person/carer to resolve the issue so far, including what support the person/carer has had from family and community networks;
- What information and advice has been provided to the person or what information and advice may be required;
- What prevention services have been used, considered or may be of benefit;
- Any specific communication needs of the person/carer that need to be considered so they can understand and be involved in any adult care and support process;
- Whether the person/carer is likely to have substantial difficulty in any adult care and support process, and if so whether an independent advocate has been considered;
- Details of any previous or current care and support services (whether the Local Authority is providing them or not);
- With the person's/carer'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
- Any other information deemed relevant by the person/carer or referrer (if the referrer is not the person/carer).
General Guidance
Sometimes it is clear which service in the Local Authority should receive the referral that has been made. Where this is clear local processes should be followed to transfer the referral to that service.
Sometimes it is less clear which service should receive a referral. For example, if the person/carer's needs could potentially be met by more than one team.
Decision making in this instance should be as simple and consistent as possible. It should involve the person/carer and the potential services with the aim of reaching a shared agreement. Any delays should not negatively impact the person/carer or put them at risk through the delay of any care and support needs being met.
Though not a requirement, it would be prudent to apply the same criteria that the Care Act requires to be applied when deciding the most appropriate worker:
- The views and wishes of the person/carer about which service/team would best support them must be regarded;
- The service/team must possess the skills, knowledge and competence to carry out the anticipated care and support functions; and
- The service/team must possess the skills, knowledge and competence required to work with the particular person/carer in question.
tri.x has developed a tool that can be used as required to support consistent decision making about team suitability.
See: Team Suitability Decision Support Tool.
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.
Establishing the correct area team – Adult Frailty and Long-Term Conditions (AFLTC)
Adult Frailty and Long-Term Conditions Team locality boundaries are determined by a person’s postcode. The system uses the first section of the postcode and the first digit of the second section.
Care should be taken with people living on the county border, as this convention does not always ‘respect’ county boundaries and the postcode list is not designed to determine whether the person is a Lincolnshire resident or not. It is necessary to determine whether the person is resident in Lincolnshire prior to using the list, i.e. to which District Council do they pay Council tax, and then use the postcode list to determine which Lincolnshire Team is responsible for the case. As an example, a Lincolnshire resident with NG23 5** will be the responsibility of Grantham and a Lincolnshire resident with NG23 7** will be a Lincoln South / Hykeham case.
The postcode lookup list is available in the Local Resource Library under Access to Information, Advice and Services (Section 3).
Establishing the correct area team - Learning Disability
Learning Disability Team boundaries are detailed in the postcode lookup list, which is available in the Local Resource Library under Access to Information, Advice and Services (Section 3).
The boundaries for Learning Disability Teams are aligned to Lincolnshire’s ward boundaries, as follows:
- Grantham / Stamford and Bourne – covering all South Kesteven District wards;
- Sleaford / Spalding – covering all South Holland District and Southern wards of North Kesteven District;
- Lincoln / Hykeham – covering Lincoln City and northern wards of North Kesteven District;
- West Lindsey – covering all West Lindsey District wards;
- Boston / Skegness – covering Boston Borough and south eastern wards of East Lindsey;
- Louth – covering north and western wards of East Lindsey.
The Intake Team covers the whole county and is responsible for initial work with new people coming into Learning Disability services.
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:
- there is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
- 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.
See Using Independent Advocacy, which includes guidance on how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.
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 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.
See: Specific Requirements on the Provision of the Information and Advice around Finances for guidance on the requirements of the Care Act.
See the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.
People should usually be issued with a paper copy of the Privacy Notice (Adult Care and Community Wellbeing) as part of the information and advice they receive prior to a new assessment taking place. It is not necessary to issue a privacy notice every time we obtain consent, but all individuals should be aware of where they can access a copy of the notice.
A review is the mechanism by which an existing Care and Support Plan (or Support Plan) is evaluated. This can lead to a revision of the plan or further intervention, such as a reassessment of need.
If the person requiring a review has an allocated worker, the review request should be sent to them.
If there is no allocated worker and the review is inactive, the customer advisor should:
- Record within the contact the basic information around why the request is being made. If the matter can be dealt with by the advisor without the need to bring forward a review, for instance, by provision of information and advice, there will be no further progression;
- Where the contact indicates that changes are required, the review should be brought forward. The advisor will bring forward the review and either record it proportionately themselves or assign the review to another practitioner within the CSC or area team;
- This review may lead to small changes to support arrangements where there are sufficient funds in the personal budget. This can be done at the CSC by either a practitioner or appropriately skilled advisor following the defined process;
- Where immediate intervention is required, the review should be brought forward and assigned to the area team;
- If, following the conversation and subsequent review, the needs identified require a significant change to the current service then CSC will assign to the area team for a further conversation;
- Where there is not an immediate crisis needing intervention by the CSC teams, or a more intensive piece of case work is needed, the CSC will transfer the request through to the relevant area team.
CSC practitioners carrying out reviews should refer to the relevant procedures below:
- Legal Requirements of a Care and Support Plan Review and Tools;
- Preparing to Carry out a Care and Support Plan Review;
- The Full Review Conversation;
- The Light Touch Review Conversation;
- Deciding the Outcome of a Care and Support Plan Review and Making a Formal Record;
- Actions Following a Care and Support Plan Review.
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:
- there is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
- 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.
See Using Independent Advocacy, which includes guidance on how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.
The Local Authority has a duty to provide good information about 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.
See: Specific Requirements on the Provision of the Information and Advice around Finances for guidance on the requirements of the Care Act.
See the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.
If, as part of any conversation or information gathering you become concerned that a vulnerable adult or child is experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect you must respond appropriately by raising a concern.
See Safeguarding Adults, which also includes information about how to raise a children's safeguarding concern.
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.
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.
See: Providing Information and Advice 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.
Good information and advice play a role in preventing or delaying people’s need for care and support, and in enabling people to make well-informed choices and take control of their care and support and how they fund it.
It’s about more than providing leaflets or factsheets; it’s about good quality conversations with people as well as providing the right amount of information at the right time.
What is on offer:
Information and advice for Lincolnshire residents, their carers and families, and professionals about:
- Community support and providers;
- Activities and events;
- Venues, buildings and facilities in Lincolnshire;
- Home care agencies;
- Care homes; and
- Mental Health.
Who is it for:
Anyone can visit the website, view directories of helpful community organisations, and create a booklet of information.
How to access:
Tel: 0300 303 8789
Email: CTSL@ageuklsl.org.uk
Website: lincolnshire.connecttosupport.org
There is a range of printable factsheets and guides available in the ‘Leaflets, Booklets and Customer Information’ section of the Local Resource Library.
The factsheets are intended for electronic use, e.g. viewing online or attaching PDF’s to emails or for local printing/photocopying where people need a paper copy.
You can ask for information and advice to be sent out by Business Support. This will save you time and ensure the person is getting the information and advice they need. To make a request, there is a correspondence step in Mosaic which can be used at any time. This step can be left open to allow the allocated practitioner to use the step if further information and advice is required to be sent out. The correspondence step will need to be completed when the case involvement ends.
If the person is facing a difficult health decision or just does not know how to find out about available support, Healthwatch Lincolnshire can help.
Tel: 0205 820892 (9am to 3pm Monday to Thursday; 9am to 12pm Friday)
Email: info@healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk
Website: www.healthwatchlincolnshire.co.uk/advice-and-information
The Mental Health helpline is a joint initiative across health, social care and the third sector providing free and confidential emotional support, advice and guidance across Lincolnshire.
Who is it for:
People feeling low, anxious or stressed who might benefit from speaking to someone, can speak to highly trained and experienced support worker who will be able to provide appropriate support.
Tel: 0800 001 4331 (People can also self-refer by calling the 24/7 helpline)
Website: www.mhm.org.uk/
and www.lincolnshiretalkingtherapies.nhs.uk/how-we-can-help
A network of people and organisations which can help people to connect with the services and support that will most effectively meet their needs and enhance their lives. Support for carers and anyone with mental health problems
Tel: 01522 300206
Email: info@shinelincolnshire.com
Website: shinelincolnshire.com
A family of websites that bring together everything in the local community that boosts wellbeing.
Website: www.haylincolnshire.co.uk
An informative website with links to free to download apps and advice from the NHS, easy to access, tools and support that anyone can use to quit smoking, lose weight, get active etc.
Website: www.nhs.uk/better-health
Contact between people and Adult Care practitioners should be seen as an opportunity to identify issues of poverty, debt, and financial wellbeing. All practitioners should offer information and advice about benefits maximisation and debt support where required.
See: Welfare Benefits (Connect to Support Lincolnshire)
See: Benefits and financial support if you are caring for someone (LCC website)
People can also be supported by the following organisations to work out what benefits or tax credits they, or someone the care for is entitled to:
- Citizens Advice;
- Law Centres;
- Macmillan benefits advisors for people affected by cancer;
- Age UK benefits advice for older people;
- Gingerbread Single Parent Helpline;
- Money Helper – other free help and advice.
If someone is experiencing significant debt issues, they may be eligible for the Debt Respite Scheme.
See: Debt Respite Scheme (Breathing Spaces) Procedure.
Mobility benefits and transport provision
Mobility benefits should not prevent people using a personal budget to fund transport costs associated with meeting needs to access their community. For example, accessing the community requires a car, a driver, fuel cost, and escort costs. Access to transport provided through mobility benefits and schemes such as Motability may enable the personal budget to be adjusted accordingly, based on what the benefit / Motability vehicle may reasonably enable the person to achieve. However, personal budgets should take into account additional costs over and above the vehicle required, to meet need.
The Lincolnshire Carers Service provides information, advice and statutory services to carers.
See: LCC website for information and support for carers
Lincolnshire County Council has teamed up with Carers UK to offer a Digital Resource for Carers in our area with digital products, online resources, local information and support for carers on a single platform.
Sometimes it is helpful to contact a well-known national organisation with a dedicated information and advice service or help line. See: National Organisations with Information and Advice Helplines 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. See: National Contacts for Adult Care and Support for a wider range of useful national contacts for adult Care and Support.
You can also see the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment, including questions relating to Disabled Facilities Grants.
Information and advice must be provided in an accessible way so that the person/carer for whom it is intended can best understand and make use of it.
If you feel the person/carer for whom the information and advice is intended will need support to understand it then you should:
- consider whether the person/carer has anyone appropriate who can help them to understand it;
- 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
- consider the benefit of independent advocacy.
If the person has a diagnosis of dementia, it may be appropriate to make a referral to the Memory Support Service. They can help the person to understand information provided to them and to navigate the care system.
See: Memory Support Service.
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 agree 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 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.
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.
See: Information Handling 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.
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. All available prevention services in the local area should be explored before transferring a referral for a longer-term intervention.
Under section 2 of the Care Act the Local Authority cannot provide intensive or ongoing long-term interventions until it is satisfied that prevention services having been explored and deemed not suitable.
See: Preventing Needs for Care and Support to read more about the duty to prevent needs for Care and Support, including the types of prevention services recognised by the Care Act, when to provide prevention services and how to charge for prevention services.
All health and care professionals should be aware of frailty and identify where people would benefit from assessment and planning that minimises the impact of frailty on people’s wellbeing.
Triggers are:
- Are you older than 85 years?
- Are you male?
- In general, do you have any health problems that require you to limit your activities?
- Do you need someone to help you regularly?
- In general, do you have any health problems that require you to stay at home?
- In case of need, can you count on someone close to you?
- Do you regularly use a cane, a walker, or a wheelchair to move about?
A person hitting three or more of the seven triggers should be referred to their primary care team to request a full frailty assessment is undertaken. This referral should be made using the Lincolnshire Frailty Pathway Letter, which is available in Mosaic.
For more information about the Lincolnshire Frailty Pathway, including resources and a practice toolkit see: Lincolnshire Frailty Pathway.
The Wellbeing Service is a county wide service supporting adults across Lincolnshire and is delivered by a partnership of all seven Lincolnshire District Councils, known as Wellbeing Lincs.
The key principles of Wellbeing Lincs are to:
- enhance wellbeing;
- improve people’s access to support services;
- reduce and delay escalation to statutory services;
- provide direct support and signpost access to community resources.
The Wellbeing Service can support people with:
- loneliness and social isolation;
- disability;
- changes to financial circumstances;
- lack of family support;
- ill health;
- bereavement; and
- changing medical needs.
For further information and to find out how to make a referral see: Processes for Arranging All Support and Services Procedure
What is on offer:
Go Smoke-free, Lose Weight, Move More, and Drink Less.
A free healthy lifestyle service helping Lincolnshire residents achieve or work towards improving their health, wellbeing, and resilience.
Various offers of support are available in each of the four pathways and are currently provided through a hybrid model of onsite and remote delivery, via telephone for people who have difficulty accessing technology or web-based programs, such as seated exercise, weight management groups and yoga available if the person is eligible (see below).
Who is it for:
LCC staff, carers, and Lincolnshire residents aged 18+ (aged 12+ for smoke free) who have an interest in changing to healthy behaviours:
Smoke-free – any worker or resident in Lincolnshire who wants to stop smoking. They are up to four times more likely to quit smoking with support from OYL which offers nicotine replacement therapy combined with behaviour change.
Lose weight and eat well – BMI 30+ or 27.5+ for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) individuals. (NHS BMI calculator)
Move More -for anyone doing less than 150 minute of physical activity per week.
Drink Less – for people consuming more than 14 units per week who want to reduce their alcohol intake.
How to refer: (Temporarily- self-referral)
Tel: 01522 705162
Email: hello@oneyoulincolnshire.org.uk
Website: www.oneyoulincolnshire.org.uk/lincolnshire-residents
The Motability Scheme is a simple method of leasing a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair. The scheme enables disabled people to use their government-funded mobility allowance to lease a new car, scooter or powered wheelchair every three years, or a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) every five years (for new WAVs) and three years for nearly new WAVs.
The scheme is available to anyone who receives one of the following and has at least 12 months’ award remaining:
- The Higher Rate Mobility Component of the Disability Living Allowance (DLA);
- The Enhanced Rate Mobility Component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP);
- The War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement (WPMS);
- The Armed Forces Independence Payment (AFIP).
- The higher Rate Mobility component of Child Disability Payment (Scotland) as of July 2021.
Motability Car Leases and Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles
A standard Motability car lease can be taken out for three years and is a regular car that is available through the scheme.
Motability Scheme leases generally run for five years for new Wheelchair Accessible Vehicles (WAV) and three years for Nearly New WAVs. A WAV is a vehicle that enables a disabled person to travel as a passenger whilst seated in their wheelchair. Other vehicles that allow the disabled person to drive from their wheelchair are also available, which enable people to drive without needing to transfer to a seat.
Every lease includes:
- Insurance;
- Servicing and maintenance;
- Full breakdown assistance;
- Replacement tyres;
- Replacement batteries for scooters and powered wheelchairs;
- 60,000 mileage allowance for over three years, or 100,000 over five years for a WAV;
- Annual Car tax;
- Windscreen repair/replacement;
- Many adaptations at no extra cost.
Leasing a car or Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) will also cover:
- 20,000 mileage allowance per year of lease;
- Window and windscreen repair or replacement;
- A choice of adaptations, many at no extra cost.
Vehicles are available at a number of different costs, some of which are lower than the weekly allowance, but with some more expensive cars an additional payment, known as the Advance Payment, will be needed to cover the cost of the lease.
Adaptions to vehicles are also available through the Motability Scheme in order to support a person’s needs as effectively as possible, as well as providing them with a high level of safety and comfort. Adaptions include:
- Vehicle access;
- Equipment loading;
- Driving adaptations.
Motability Scooter and Powered Wheelchair Leases
Motability Scheme leases generally run for three years from the date that you took delivery. Included with the wheelchair and lease are:
- A new scooter or powered wheelchair of the person’s choice every three years;
- Help from specialist dealers;
- Breakdown assistance from Motability Assist;
- Replacement batteries and tyres;
- Servicing, maintenance and repairs;
- Insurance equivalent to fully comprehensive cover;
- Weatherproof storage cover for when the product is not being used.
Useful Contacts
Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance Support
Not everyone contacts the Local Authority in a timely way 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 recognizes this occurrence and gives the Local Authority powers to meet such needs without having carried out a formal assessment process.
To see what the Care Act says about meeting urgent needs without an assessment or review, see: The Power to Meet Needs.
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/carer and their situation.
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/carer 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:
- The impact on the person's/carer's individual wellbeing;
- Whether any preventative service can be provided that will delay, reduce or prevent the need for care and support;
- Whether information and advice can be provided to support the person/carer 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 use the links below to access further information as required.
- Promoting Individual Wellbeing for information about the duty to promote individual wellbeing;
- Preventing Needs for Care and Support for information about the duty to prevent, reduce or delay needs;
- Providing Information and Advice.
In addition, you should be mindful that nobody has yet assessed (or reassessed) the needs of the person/carer 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/carer'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/carer to a place in time where a needs or carer's 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.
tri.x has developed a tool that can be used as required to support consistent decision making about the provision of urgent or interim support.
Wherever possible, every conversation with a person/carer should be from a strengths perspective. This means that before you talk about service solutions to the presenting issue you must support the person/carer to explore whether there is:
- anything within their own power that they can do to help themselves; or
- 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/carer 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:
- taking a holistic view of the person or carers needs in the context of their wider support network;
- helping them to understand their strengths and capabilities within the context of their situation;
- helping them to understand and explore the support available to them in the community;
- helping them to understand and explore the support available to them through other networks or services (e.g. health);
- 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. See: Care Act guidance on strengths-based approaches - SCIE. Note: SCIE requires a login to access resources, but any social care practitioner can create one quickly and easily.
All funding requests for urgent and interim support should be made in line with available local processes and requirements.
It can be difficult to make a decision about the level of funding required to meet the urgent or interim care and support needs because:
- There will be no personal budget allocated to the person/carer; or
- 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/carer will be satisfied the process was fair and robust.
Other than sufficiency, the factors that decision makers must consider are:
- the views and wishes of the person/carer about how their needs should be met;
- the availability of other potential options in the marketplace; and
- the cost of available suitable services in the marketplace.
Other factors that should be considered are:
- the complexity of the needs;
- the level of risk/sense of urgency; and
- 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/carer's own networks of support could help; and
- where the person/carer is not ordinarily resident; if they receive care and support already in another Authority the nature of the care and support they receive.
Decision makers should also take into account that 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 urgent needs. In doing so it must:
- not base it's decision on finances alone;
- consider things on a case-by-case basis; and
- not set arbitrary limits (fixed amounts for a particular type of need or service).
The outcome of the funding decision should be communicated to the person/carer at the earliest opportunity. The method of communication should reflect that requested by the person/carer 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/carer as a formal record.
When communicating the outcome you should include the following information:
- The funding decision itself;
- The rationale for the decision;
- Any information and advice relating to adult care and support, and the prevention, delay or reduction of needs;
- What will happen next and the timeframes involved;
- How to complain about any aspect of the decision or proposed outcome.
Any funding decision rationale should be clearly recorded in line with local recording requirements.
The Local Authority is not required to record urgent and interim support on a Care and Support/Support Plan because:
- the support is being provided under the Local Authority's powers (as opposed to duties);
- the person/carer has not yet been assessed (or reassessed); and
- there has been no decision about eligible needs.
However, the following must be clearly recorded:
- The urgent or interim support being provided;
- The contribution to the cost of the support being made by the Local Authority;
- The contribution being made by the person/carer;
- The duration of the support;
- How the support will be reviewed;
- What outcomes the support aims to achieve; and
- The next steps, including timeframes for any assessment.
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 (or Support Planning) process.
The Local Authority is permitted under the Care Act to charge any person/carer for care and support (including care and support provided on an urgent basis) unless:
- it chooses not to; or
- the person/carer has been financially assessed as having insufficient funds to contribute; or
- the support being provided is reablement (up to 6 weeks is non-chargeable); or
- the support being provided is equipment (up to the cost of £1000 is non-chargeable).
For further information about charging for all services under the Care Act, see: Power of the Local Authority to Charge.
It is your responsibility to understand the position of the Local Authority in regards to the financial assessment of carers.
See the Charging and Financial Assessment Procedure for further guidance.
Where urgent support is provided to a person/carer 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/carer 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.
tri.x has developed a tool to support decision making around ordinary residence.
See: Ordinary Residence Decision Support Tool.
Also see the Ordinary Residence Procedure for further information.
Under section 5 of the Care Act the Local Authority has a duty to maintain an effective and efficient market of services for meeting care and support needs in the local area. A key part of maintaining a market place is understanding what is working and not working about the marketplace. It is therefore important that you report any concerns you have about any organisation providing any kind of care or support.
The local marketplace includes:
- Services that are commissioned by the Local Authority;
- Services that are provided by the Local Authority (for example, Reablement);
- Services used by self-funders and people who have a Direct Payment;
- Universal services available to all residents; and
- Services provided by partner agencies (for example, health or voluntary services).
A Contract Management Framework has been introduced to enable the Commercial Team to assess the services commissioned and monitor the quality of care delivered. Therefore, it is important that Contract Officers gather as much information as possible to continually evaluate the standard and quality of care provided. Contract Officers work in teams to provide a Lincolnshire wide service, to include; (i) Strategic, (ii) Residential, (iii) Home Care and (iv) Specialist Services. Working to promote closer working relationships with area teams and health colleagues, to effectively monitor care delivery and to ensure information is shared in a timely manner, to promote better outcomes for service users.
Any Adult Care practitioners visiting a provider or a person are invited to provide feedback on a range of issues including care plans, the environment/setting and staffing matters using the Poor Practice Form. Contract Officers will also use these forms to analyse any trends in information.
See: Poor Practice Concern Form
When completed please return the form to poorpracticeconcerns@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Where you are providing details about a particular incident involving a person with care and support needs you should:
- make the person aware that you are raising the concern and why; and
- establish whether they consent to be contacted as part of any further information gathering if required.
There is also a series of questions in the ‘Adult My Review – Person Data Form’ where practitioners, following a visit and discussion with the person, are to rate the effectiveness of the commissioned service in meeting the needs of the person for categories such as overall service delivery, provider care plans and environment. There is also a text box to record specific feedback.
In all cases, you must take appropriate steps to manage the risk to an individual posed by the poor practices of a service provider. Effective ways of managing the risk could be:
- raising a Safeguarding concern;
- arranging an alternative provider (there is a duty to do this when a regulated provider fails);
- agreeing monitoring arrangements.
The Commercial Team will determine the most appropriate response to the concern that has been raised, which could include:
- contract renegotiation with a commissioned provider;
- agreeing and monitoring an action plan with the provider;
- a temporary stop on the use of a provider;
- a large scale safeguarding response;
- joint work with another Local Authority (when the provider is not local);
- a recommendation to information and advice services not to signpost to a provider;
- notification of concerns to the Care Quality Commission;
- a letter to people who use a service.
You may be asked to support the Commercial Team by providing additional information or assisting in any investigation process they undertake. You are required to co-operate with any request under the Care Act unless doing so will:
- prevent you from effectively carrying out other duties under the Care Act; or
- prevent you from effectively carrying out duties under any other legislation.
If the services are provided by a partner organisation (such as health, housing or education) there will be local arrangements in place to report concerns. If you do not know what these arrangements are you should:
- speak to your line manager; or
- speak to the Commercial Team.
Where you are providing details about a particular incident involving a person with care and support needs you should:
- make the person aware that you are raising the concern and why; and
- establish whether they consent to be contacted as part of any further information gathering if required.
When concerns arise about the practice of a personal assistant you should discuss your concerns with:
- the person with care and support needs (or their representative if they lack capacity);
- any carer; and
- the person receiving the Direct Payment (if this is not the person or the carer).
Depending on the nature of the concern it could be resolved through:
- a conversation with the personal assistant to discuss the concerns and identify action required to resolve them;
- the provision of training to the personal assistant (for example, manual handling training);
- a review of the working conditions and requirements in the contract to make sure that the tasks to be completed are clear.
If specialist information or advice is required or requested (for example, relating to employment law), advise the person who has signed the Direct Payments Agreement and has employer responsibility to contact a suitably qualified person or organisation, such as the Direct Payments Support Service (Penderels Trust), or their Employers Liability Insurance provider as required.
If presenting issues cannot be resolved or you remain concerned about the continued suitability of the personal assistant, you should consider:
- any monitoring arrangements required;
- the need to add a condition to the Direct Payment, that the Direct Payment cannot be used to employ the personal assistant; or
- the need to end the Direct Payment.
Any decision must have regard for:
- the views of the person with care and support needs;
- the views of any carer;
- the views of the person receiving the Direct Payment (if this is not the person with care and support needs); and
- the impact on the person's wellbeing.
You should seek the advice of your line manager and the team responsible for managing Direct Payments as required.
Concerns about a personal assistant providing support to others
If you know that the personal assistant is providing care and support to other individuals in the local area you must consider any further action required. This could be:
- notifying the team responsible for managing Direct Payments of the concerns so they can take appropriate action to notify others;
- raising a safeguarding concern in respect of another individual being supported by the personal assistant.
Concerns about a personal assistant who is part of a local register
When a personal assistant is part of a local register of PA's it is important that any unresolved or ongoing concerns are reported to the organisation or person responsible for managing the register.
This will allow for the register to be updated and consideration given to the ongoing suitability of the PA to be included on it.
Last Updated: August 12, 2024
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