Needs assessment by social services
Adult need assessments
Many people, living in the Rochdale Borough,
need some extra help so they can live as independently as possible
whether this is in their own homes, sheltered housing, residential
care or nursing homes.
But deciding what help is needed is not always
simple.
- People have many needs, for example, because of their age, a
physical disability, learning disability, mental health problem or
illness.
- There are many kinds of help available such as, equipment,
meals on wheels, day centres, home care, and district nursing.
- Many people and organisations provide this help for instance,
relatives and friends, Rochdale Council, NHS Trusts, voluntary
groups and private companies.
A needs assessment is our way of making sure
you get the right kind of help to meet your needs.
An assessment is no guarantee that you will be
offered a service. Sometimes we can only help people with the
greatest or most urgent needs because there are not enough services
for everyone. We use Fair Access to Care Services
eligibility criteria to help us decide who we can and
cannot provide or arrange services for.
We use the single assessment
process when we assess the needs of older people, people
with a physical disability or sensory impairment, people with
learning disabilities and some people with mental health problems.
For younger adults with mental health problems and older people
with enhanced mental health needs we use the Care Program
Approach.
We always try to match the assessment to the
kind of needs you have. So, straightforward requests should be
handled with the minimum of fuss whilst people with more
complicated needs should be quickly passed on for a more detailed
assessment.
The assessment
Usually assessments are done by an assessment
worker in your own home. It may take more than one visit.
- Most assessments are done by a social workers, occupational
therapists or nurses from adult care services.
- Some assessments take place in hospital to make sure you can
cope when you go home.
- District nurses or community mental health nurses from a local
NHS Trust may do the assessment.
- If necessary, other professionally qualified staff can be asked
to help assess your needs.
We have different teams that specialise in assessing the needs
of and arranging servies for different groups of people. Contact
the team that seems to best match your needs.
What happens at the assessment?
The kind of questions you are asked will
depend on how complicated your needs are.
If you are asking for very straight forward
things, we will ask you very simple questions. You may not even
need to be visited. Some examples of things that can easily be
dealt with are:
- Blue Badges or some kinds of equipment; or
- Information and advice. We may be able to provide leaflets
giving the details you require or we may put you in touch with the
services you need like welfare advice or a district nurse.
We will ask more detailed questions about
your needs when it looks as though you might need extra help and
support over a period of time. We will then arrange to visit you.
When we visit, we will ask you more detailed questions like:
- Who else is in your household?
- Are any of your relatives, friends or neighbours already
providing extra help?
- What services do you already get?
What you have to say is crucial. We need you
to tell us your concerns. This may lead to questions about a whole
range of things like: housing, employment, your family, health or
even hobbies. It depends on you.
Any carers you have can also ask for a
separate assessment to see how they are coping with the
demands of caring.
If it looks as though you may need a number of
services or particular services are needed urgently, we will ask
you a more detailed set of questions.
The questions will cover things like:
- How well you are managing—for example, how you are coping with
everyday tasks such as getting washed and dressed, making meals, or
looking after children;
- Getting around—for example, getting around your home or getting
out and about to do the shopping, visit your G.P., visit relatives
and so on;
- Your physical health—for example, diet, sleeping and any
medicines you are taking;
- How you are feeling about things;
- Any difficulties because of where you live—for example, with
heating or keeping in touch with people.
We may need to ask other professionally
qualified staff to look at your needs as well so we can get a
proper picture of the help you need. This may take more than one
visit.
Again, any carers you have can ask for a
separate assessment to see how they are coping with the demands of
caring.
After the assessment
At the end of the assessment we should be able
to tell you which, if any, services we can offer you. You will also
be given this in writing.
If you need a great deal of help, we will
appoint a care co-ordinator to make sure all your needs have been
clearly identified and to pull together all the services required
to meet them. Ideally, this will be someone you already know.
Your care co-ordinator will also give you a
list to say what has been agreed to and who will do what, when and
why. We call this a care plan. Before we give the care plan to you,
we will discuss it with you and, with your permission, with any
carers.
If we can’t offer you a service, we will write
to you to say why and offer you further information about the
guidelines we used to come to this decision.
Changes
If we arrange services for you, we will visit
you regularly to see whether your needs have changed. This could
mean your services are increased or reduced. We call these reviews
and you will be involved in any decisions to make changes. You can
also let us know if your needs have changed before we arrange a
review.
You can ask to discuss the help we are
providing at any time.
Cost
Assessments are free. However, you may be
charged for some or all of the services provided or arranged by the
Adult Care Service (for example, home care, meals on wheels). There
is no charge for health care. Any charges will be explained at your
assessment. There are also leaflets explaining charges which you
can ask for.
You may also need to provide detailed
financial information so we can help you with the cost of some
services, like residential care, or help you claim extra
benefits.
Ask for an adult needs assessment
You can ask for an assessment of your needs at any time. We have
different teams that specialise in assessing the needs of and
arranging servies for different groups of people. Contact
the team that seems to best match your needs or the needs of the
person you provide care for.
Needs assessments for children and young people
We provide or arrange services for the most vulnerable children
and young people. This includes children and young people who:
- Have been abused and are or could be at significant risk of
abuse
- Have severe disabilities or health problems
- Are looked after (for instance, in children's homes or by
foster carers)
- Have mental health problems
- Have severe emotional or behavioural problems
- Have severe educational problems
- Are in trouble with the police or the courts
- Are beyond their parent's control
- Have significant caring responsibilities for another member of
their family
- Are involved in prostitution
- Have alcohol or drug dependencies
- Have parents who are finding it difficult to look after them
because of things like a physical or learning disability, mental
illness or an alcohol or drug dependency.
We also provide or arranges services for young people when they
leave care.
We must do a needs assessment before any services can be
arranged for vulnerable children and young people. During the
assessment we will talk to you about you and your family’s needs to
find out:
- What difficulties you are having
- Which Child Care Services might be useful
- Whether any other services might help.
If your needs are complicated, we may involve a number of other
groups, organisations and professionals and work carefully with
them to prepare a detailed plan to make sure you get the services
you need when you need them.
When you contact us the first person you talk to will be an
advice and referral officer. They will help you if your needs are
straightforward and services can be easily arranged. If things are
not so straightforward, they will put you in touch with a social
worker.
Complaints
If you are not happy with the assessment or the
services you are offered you have a right to complain if:
- You are not satisfied with the assessment you are given;
or
- You are unhappy with the kind of help you are offered following
your assessment.
Your first step should be to get in touch with
the person named in the letter we send you explaining which, if
any, services we are able to offer you.