3.7 Older People’s Team

RELEVANT CHAPTERS

1.Introduction

The Older People’s Team consists of social workers and community support workers.

The hours of the Team are Monday to Thursday 9am to 5pm and 9am to 4pm on Friday.

The out of hours function is provided by the Emergency Duty Team.

The Bedford Borough Older People’s Team is a team of social workers and support workers who provide support to people over 65 years of age. When someone contacts the Team, they are asked a series of questions. The answers to these questions will helps staff decide what they can do to help. This is known as an assessment.

The Team is available to take enquiries and referrals during the working day Monday to Friday.

1.2 Aim

The Team aims to provide the person with services to help them live safely and independently, based on their assessment of need and eligibility for services (see Assessment and Eligibility).

Staff will work with the person to:

increase their independence;
increase choice and control in their daily life;
enable them to access other support services;
improve their quality of life.

2. Services Provided by the Older People’s Team

The Team sometimes assesses an individual’s needs by telephone and sometimes in person by visiting them, depending on their individual situation.

Following assessment a range of services may be provided. These may include:

a direct payment;
home care;
day care;
equipment including telecare;
meals at home;
residential or nursing care.

The Team also supports referrals for sheltered housing.

Some examples of when the Team would arrange support are if:

the person is unable to get out of their bed or chair or move around without help;
they find it difficult to look after themself because they are unable to prepare meals and drinks, or wash properly;.
their main carers (relatives, friends or neighbours) are unable to support them without help;
their main carers are putting their own health and welfare at risk because of the nature of the caring tasks;
the person has been subjected to any form of abuse for example physical, financial, or if there are good reasons to suspect that they may be at risk of such abuse.

Services provided by the Team will be reviewed on a regular basis by social care colleagues based in the community and adjusted according to the person’s needs.

The Team works closely with doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, care agencies and other specialist services.

3. Carers

Carers are a priority for the Team because they play such a valuable role. Staff encourage carers to have a carer’s assessment and to access direct payments for activities of their choice, or carers vouchers to use towards a sitting service. See Assessment, Section 5, Carer’s Assessment.

4. Eligibility and Access

Staff can only help those whose independence is at the greatest risk if they do not receive a service. The assessment helps the Team give priority as fairly as they can to those in greatest need of support.

There is no charge for the assessment. The worker will discuss any costs relating to the service/s the person needs with them and will arrange for an assessment of their financial circumstances (see Charging and Financial Assessment). They can also assess whether there are any benefits that the person is entitled to receive.