Published: 09 August 2006
Self-assessment for People with Long-term Needs
Care Services Minister Ivan Lewis has announced 11 new pilots which will facilitate people with long term health and social care needs to assess their own support needs and apply directly for services to help them.
The new projects will explore the scope for enabling people to self assess their need for support from a range of services, such as:
· Equipment
· home care
· standard housing adaptations and
· low-level preventative services
This could, for example, involve using the internet, or approaching a third sector organisation for help with filling in an online form.
The outcome of an assessment could be receiving reliable information about equipment and services, or result in them receiving a piece of equipment directly, rather than being assessed by social services.
The purpose of the pilots will be to determine if self-assessment is feasible and to identify the risks and benefits of self-assessment. An independent evaluation will be commissioned to underpin the pilots.
Announcing the pilots Ivan Lewis said:
"In our joint health and social care white paper we promised to put people in control of their care and deliver services closer to home.
These pilots will help us do just that - which is why I'm delighted to announce they will receive £850,000 of funding.
Self assessment has the potential to give patients and service users much greater control over their care and faster, easier access to services.
This is central to our vision for the future of health and social care."
Precise arrangements vary, but local partnerships will be led by social services departments and include joint working with a range of partners, such as primary care trusts, other local government departments and voluntary sector organisations.
The successful councils are:
· London Borough of Barnet
· Birmingham City Council
· Bristol City Council
· Croydon Council
· Derby City Council
· East Riding of Yorkshire County Council
· London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
· Kingston Upon Hull City Council
· Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames
· Nottinghamshire County Council
· St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council
Some pilots involve a focus on people arranging their own care, as well as those in receipt of formal health and social care.
There is also a focus, in a number of pilots, on groups in the community whose needs can be difficult to meet, including minority ethnic groups, carers and people living in rural areas.
In all cases, self-assessment will be introduced as an additional point of access for local services, rather than a replacement for traditional ways of accessing services.
The pilots will launch in October 2006 and run until 30 September 2007.
As can be seen from the long list below of just a few selected articles on this subject, the government has said a great deal on this subject over the last 2 years alone
It remains to be seen whether these pilots actually start the delivery process, or whether the problem just rumbles on.
Related articles
End to 'post-code' lottery for continuing care
Community Matron and Case Manager Education and Training
Long-term Self-care
'Self Care - A Real Choice'
Closer to Home Working Group
Improving Long-term NHS Care
Rural Health Transport
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