Mental health services
Care and support
Standard Care
If your assessment shows that you require some support from mental health services but do not have complex needs, you will have the benefit of Standard Care instead of the Care Programme Approach (CPA).
"CPA" or "Standard Care"
Whether you are on CPA or Standard Care you will have:
- an assessment of your health and social care needs (Needs Assessment)
- a copy of a written Care Plan or Statement of Care
- a review of your care at least every year
- the option of a Carer's Assessment for your carer
- a named Care Co-ordinator who will keep in touch with you
- the offer of a Personalised Budget, subject to some legal restrictions.
Your Care Co-ordinator
Your Care Co-ordinator is usually a nurse, social worker or Occupational Therapist, but sometimes a Psychologist or Psychiatrist whose job is to make sure your Care and Support Plan is carried out. They will be trained in delivering mental health services and have the authority to access the services you need as agreed in your Care and Support Plan. Your Care Co-ordinator may not be the Mental Health Services worker with whom you have the most contact but will know what support you are receiving. The Care Co-ordinator will be the most appropriate person for you and they will work with you to enable a good understanding of you and your needs.
Your Care Co-ordinator will:
- make sure your cultural needs, language needs, disability needs, and needs for advocacy are met
- show respect for you as a person and treat you with dignity
- look at all your needs and offer you information about choices you can make about your care and support, promoting your control of the process wherever possible
- keep in touch with you and make sure you are involved in planning your care
- liaise with your family (with your permission) and other professionals who give you support
- make sure you understand your Care and Support Plan and who is involved in your care
- discuss other ways of meeting your social care needs through personalised budgets
- wherever possible you will be involved in the process of identifying your care co-ordinator.
Care Plan
Your Care Plan describes the services and support that you need, and identifies whose responsibility it is to provide them. A Care Plan may also be described as a Support Plan. It is a written record of the actions and plans agreed with your Care Co-ordinator. Your Care Plan will also recognise your strengths, skills, hopes and aspirations as well as ways of coping.
Your Care Plan covers your:
- mental health
- physical health
- social circumstances e.g. housing, employment, friends, family, etc.
- future plans, hopes, dreams and aspirations
- Contingency Plan and Crisis Plan.
Your Care Plan will also consider risk. This means risks that affect you, and / or ways in which you may pose a risk to other people. Your Care Plan will look at the least restrictive ways to reduce these risks. You may prefer to talk about “Safety” rather than “Risk”
You will be offered a copy of your Care Plan. You will be asked to sign it, and your Care Co-ordinator will also sign it. This is to show that you have agreed the care arrangements set out in the Care Plan.
Care plans will be regularly reviewed at meetings with everyone involved in your care. You can attend these review meetings, but you do not have to. Every effort will be made to ensure that the meetings are carried out in the least stressful and most supportive way and at a time and place convenient to you.
You have the right to:
- be told in advance where and when the review meeting will be
- have a friend and / or advocate attend with you, or on your behalf.
- request a review meeting yourself - you can ask for a review at any time if there is a change in your circumstances.
Reviews will be held at least every twelve months.
Your involvement in your Care and Support Plan
The relationship between you and your Care Co-ordinator will work best when it is a partnership. This is important, so you, and your carers if you wish, will be given the opportunity to be involved in all stages of the CPA. If you choose not to be involved, your Care Plan can be written for you and a copy will be sent to you.
Your family, friends, carers, and advocate can be involved in Care Planning meetings, if you wish. Even if you request that they are not involved in the planning, carers have a right to know certain details, i.e. when your Care Plan directly affects them. Carers may also find it useful to have a clear plan that includes who they will be able to contact if there is a crisis.
