Issues that affect access to services Flashcards
What issues affect access to services?
Referral
Assessment
Eligibility Criteria
Barriers
What are the 3 types of referral?
Self referral
Third Party referral
Professional referral
What is self-referral?
when a person contacts a care provider personally, by letter, email, phone call, making an appointment or attending a care setting or surgery and
requesting help
What services can be accessed through self-referral?
- Access to the primary healthcare services, such as doctors, dentists and opticians.
- Many social care services for children and adults are accessed by self-referral.
What is third party referral?
when a friend, neighbour or relative contacts a health
or care service on another person’s behalf.
Give an example of third party referral
For example, a neighbour may ringthe social services department on behalf of a frail elderly person to request care support, or a relative concerned about the general health of a person with Down’s
syndrome may contact the GP.
What services can be accessed through third party referral?
These referrals are usually to services that are
accessible through self-referral.
What is professional referral?
when a health or care professional contacts another
service provider to request support for a service user.
Give an example of professional referral
a GP referring a service user to a hospital consultant, or a head teacher referring a child with learning difficulties to an educational psychologist, or a social worker contacting the domiciliary care services for a client with disabilities.
Give some negatives of self-referral
- you can’t self refer yourself for mental health
- people who can’t read or write or speak english may have trouble
- elderly + children may have issues using phones or emails
- not seen as important bc you weren’t referred by a doctor
Give some negatives of third party referral
- may be an unwanted referral
- communication / language barriers
- might not know much about you or your medical history
What assessment do local authorities have a duty to carry out if someone has trouble looking after themself without additional help?
Community care assessment
What is the community care assessment?
professional assessment of care needs provided by a local authority
adult social services department, which also provides help and advice in
accessing services to best meet the service user’s need.
Who is responsible for the community care assessment?
The adult social services department is usually responsible for this, and it would normally be a social worker who completes such an assessment.
Why might someone need an assessment? What might the service user need?
▸ reassurance and information about local or national organisations that could help
▸▸ simple devices that can help the client to live independently, such as aids to open
tins or jars, or equipment to help them use their bath
▸▸ a higher level of care, such as domiciliary care, or they may need residential care.
Who has a right to a carer’s assessment?
If a client is supported in their home by family, friends or neighbours, these carers also have a right to a carer’s assessment to see whether they need support to carry out their caring activities. These unpaid carers are often called informal carers to distinguish them from professional care staff, or representatives of charitable groups.
Define carer’s assessment
assessment of the needs of informal carers providing support for a vulnerable person, such as a person with a physical disability, a person
with a mental health need or a frail older person.
What sets out carers’ legal rights for assessment and support?
The Care Act 2014
What should happen when an assessment is completed?
Service user or carer must be provided with a written copy of the report outlining the needs identified and the action agreed.
Give some negatives of the community care assessment
- social workers might be discriminatory e.g. to people with aids
- long waiting list
- social workers might not provide an accurate assessment
- might not give info about local organisations that could help e.g. alcohol support groups
Give some negatives of carer’s assessment
- Carer might not use money to support service user
- Government might not give funding
-informal carer might dismiss needs (their own or service user’s?)
What 2 criteria must a person meet in order to be entitled to care and support from the local authority?
- a physical and/or mental impairment or illness, plus
- an inability to achieve at least two of the following daily activities (called outcomes):
This is also known as National Eligibility Criteria
List the daily activities someone must be unable to achieve to receive care and support from the LA
▸ prepare and eat food
▸▸ wash themselves or their clothes
▸▸ manage their toilet needs
▸▸ dress appropriately, especially in cold weather
▸▸ move around their home easily
▸▸ keep their house safe and clean
▸▸ maintain family or other close relationships, in order to avoid social isolation
▸▸ access work, training, education or volunteering
▸▸ use local facilities, including shops, recreational facilities and other services
▸▸ carry out caring responsibilities, including caring for their children
▸▸ meet the outcomes likely to affect their health and wellbeing.
a person only needs to be unable to achieve 2 of these
What is the National Eligibility Criteria?
criteria applied to decide whether a service user is entitled to support from the local authority social services department.
