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Our standards

Support and advice

Putting users and carers first with a quality and professional service

In your dealings with Calderdale Adults, Health and Social Care you can expect to receive a service which is:

• Accessible: we want to make it as easy as possible for you to contact us, just ring Gateway to Care on 0845 11 11 103.
• Courteous: we will listen to what you say, respond to meet your needs whenever possible and treat you with respect at all times.
• Fair: we will provide our services fairly, within the terms of the law, regardless of such matters as race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or gender.
• Confidential: all of the information you give us will be treated in confidence. Where we need to obtain or share information about your needs with staff in other agencies we will first seek your permission in writing.

Clear information about community care

• We will give information on all aspects of assessments and service provision e.g. how to ask for an assessment; what is meant by a care plan.
• We will explain in plain language how our assessment processes work and our eligibility criteria (that is which levels of need are given a particular priority).

Assessment and care planning

What you can expect:

• A fair assessment of needs: we will carry out an assessment of your needs in a professional and sensitive manner.
  The level of assessment will be tailored to your needs, either 'simple' or 'comprehensive'. We will keep the process as straightforward as possible. It may be necessary to undertake 'multi-disciplinary assessments' where your needs are complex. It will be necessary for these assessments to be co-ordinated across agencies (for example, Healthcare Trusts, GPs, and voluntary organisations). Before we obtain or share assessment information we will ask for your permission in writing.
• Summary of need: once an assessment is completed a Summary of Need will be drawn up, recording needs discussed and agreed during the assessment process. This will form the basis of any services provided as part of your Care Plan.
• Your Care Plan: if, as a result of your assessment, it is agreed that services need to be arranged to help meet your needs, a Care Plan will be drawn up and agreed with you. You will receive a copy of your Care Plan, setting out what services will be arranged for you through Adults, Health and Social Care.
• The needs of carers : support for carers is given a high priority. We greatly value the work done by carers, but will not take it for granted when carrying out assessments.
  The needs of carers will always be taken into account in the assessment of the person they provide care for. By 'carer' we mean someone (a relative of friend) who is providing unpaid support to help meet a person's care needs.
  Carers providing or expecting to provide 'significant and regular' support can now have a separate 'Carer's Assessment'. This right is underwritten by the 1995 Carers' Act. Where a Carer's Assessment identifies significant pressures on a carer, it may led to an increase in the services we can arrange, and so relieve the carer.
• Re-assessment and review: if you feel at any stage that your needs (or those of a person you are providing care for) have changed, you can request a re-assessment or review by contacting Gateway to Care.
• Choice: if you are considering moving into a residential home, our staff will always ensure that you receive a copy of the information sheet which gives a list of the care homes in Calderdale. A list can also be found on the Social care and wellbeing hub.

Responding to your request for assessment

We aim to reply to all requests for assessment (referrals) within ten working days.

• If an assessor is available you will be contacted promptly to fix a time to meet. If an assessor is not available, we will let you know and explain the likely time scale. We aim to carry out all assessments quickly, but staff and workload pressures sometimes make this impossible. We will be honest with you about any delays.
• If your needs are considered urgent, that is if there is a significant element of risk, you will receive an assessment on the same day as your referral.

How long will an assessment take?

The time an assessment takes will be influenced by the complexity of your needs. We aim to complete our assessments promptly, but we also want them to be thorough and professional.

We will try to get the balance right and will let you know the likely time scales in all cases. An assessment requiring input from people not working for Adults, Health and Social Care will take longer.

When you contact us by telephone

We aim to answer your calls promptly. We will try to answer your questions straight away. If we cannot do this we will refer you to someone who can, or arrange for someone to call you back within two working days. If you prefer we will write to you.

All district offices have text telephones.

You can also contact us by email: gatewaytocare@calderdale.gov.uk or via our online form: Online contact.

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