Actions and Next Steps (First Point of Contact)

1. Transferring a Contact

It is important that the person/carer making contact speaks to the right practitioner at the right time.

Transferring a telephone contact

You will often receive telephone contacts requesting to speak to a named worker or a particular service. However, this may or may not be the best person for them to speak to.

When the person/carer making the contact requests specifically to speak to or be contacted by a particular team or practitioner you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner/team.

You should check available systems to establish whether:

The person/carer is allocated to the practitioner they have requested to speak to; or
The service/team is responsible for either the assessment or review of the person/carers needs.

You should not transfer a telephone call to a named worker if it is clear that the worker is not allocated to the person/carer. This will not be helpful to the worker or to the person/carer as they will not be speaking to the right person to resolve the contact.

If the practitioner is not available

If the practitioner is not available you should try and establish when they may become available by looking at any electronic calendars they use or speaking with a member of the service/team they are based in.

If you know when the practitioner is likely to become available you should:

Inform the person/carer of this;
Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, any action undertaken and confirming the information given to the person about when to expect a call back;
Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required should the practitioner be unavailable for more than a few hours;
Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact at the expected time; and
Make a proportionate record of all the above.

If it is not clear when the practitioner will become available you should:

Inform the person/carer of this;
Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, any action undertaken and what information has been given to the person/carer;
Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required; and
Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
Make a proportionate record of all the above.

Transferring a written, e-mail or text contact

When a written contact is addressed to a named worker you should establish as quickly as possible whether the contact should be forwarded to that practitioner.

You should check available systems to establish whether the person/carer is allocated to the practitioner that the written contact is addressed to.

You should not transfer a written contact to a named worker if it is clear that the worker is not allocated to the person/carer. This will not be helpful to the worker or to the person/carer as they will not be dealing with the right person to resolve the contact.

Before transferring the contact you should:

Confirm that the practitioner the written communication is being transferred to is available within a reasonable timeframe for the action indicated by the contact, or that there is a mechanism in place for the written contact to be received and managed by the service in which they work;
Where the communication is a letter or an e-mail, whether the practitioner wishes to receive the original contact (if not this should be filed securely); and
Where a written response confirming the contact has been received is required or requested, agree who will provide this.

The most secure way to transfer a written contact is to send a message to the practitioner alerting them to the contact and where it can be found on the recording system.

Any original copies of e-mails must be sent via internal secure e-mail systems only and any original letters must be sent via internal postal services or secure delivery only.

If the practitioner is not available

If the practitioner is not available you should try and establish when they may become available by looking at any electronic calendars they use or speaking with a member of the service/team they are based in.

If the practitioner is not available within a reasonable timeframe for the action indicated by the contact you should:

Leave the practitioner a message alerting them to the contact, where it can be found on the recording system and any action undertaken, including what has been agreed with the person/carer if contact has been made with them;
Undertake any actions that you are able to in order to resolve some or part of the contact, including any urgent actions that may be required and writing any acknowledgement letter to confirm arrival of the contact;
When the practitioner is not available within any timeframes indicted in the written contact or for more than a few days inform the person/carer making the contact of this;
Agree with the person/carer what they should do if the practitioner does not make contact within an agreed timeframe; and
Make a proportionate record of all the above.

2. Taking a Referral for Assessment or Support

Taking a Referral

If the information gathered during a telephone contact suggests the person/carer would benefit from further assessment or intervention a referral should be taken so long as:

The person/carer the referral relates to is making the referral;
The person/carer the referral relates to has given their consent to the referral; or
The person/carer that the referral relates to lacks mental capacity to make a referral and a decision has been made under Best Interests that a referral should be made; or
The person that the referral relates to is at risk of harm from abuse or neglect.

The following information should be included in a referral:

All personal details, including the persons/carers full name (and also preferred name or previous surname), address and preferred contact details, date of birth, national insurance number and NHS number;
The name, relationship and contact details of the person making the referral (if not the person/carer themselves);
When and how the person/carer consented to the referral;
If the person has not consented to the referral, was a mental capacity assessment carried out and is the referral being made under Best Interests;
What the presenting issue is from the person's/carer's perspective and what they would like to happen;
What the presenting issue is from the referrer's point of view (if the referrer is not the person/carer) and what action they may recommend;
What options have been considered with the person/carer to resolve the issue so far, including what support the person/carer has had from family and community networks;
What information and advice has been provided to the person or what information and advice may be required;
What prevention services have been used, considered or may be of benefit;
Any specific communication needs of the person/carer that need to be considered so they can understand and be involved in any adult Care and Support process;
Whether the person/carer is likely to have substantial difficulty in any adult Care and Support process, and if so whether an independent advocate has been considered;
Details of any previous or current Care and Support/Support services (whether the Local Authority is providing them or not);
With the person's/carer's consent the name and contact details of anyone involved in their life who should be involved in any assessment (family member, friend or professional); and
Any other information deemed relevant by the person/carer or referrer (if the referrer is not the person/carer).

Transferring the referral

Unless the referral relates to a person with a learning disability, it should be transferred to the appropriate Locality Duty Team for screening.

If the person has a learning disability it should be transferred to the Duty All Age Learning Disability Service.

If it is not clear which duty team to transfer the referral to it should be transferred to the Locality Duty Team.

The Duty to Provide Independent Advocacy

Whenever the outcome of a contact or referral is that the person/carer will be involved in any adult Care and Support process (including any assessment, review, reassessment or safeguarding) the Local Authority has a duty under the Care Act to make an independent advocate available to the person/carer when:

There is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
They feel that the person/carer would experience substantial difficulty being fully involved in the Care and Support process without support.

Decisions about the need for advocacy should be made as early as possible because advocacy must be provided before the Care and Support function to be carried out can begin. As such if you know that advocacy will be likely you should discuss this with the person and make a referral at the same time as you transfer the request for a review or reassessment.

See Using Independent Advocacy, which includes guidance on how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.

The Duty to Provide Information and Advice around Financial Assessment

The Local Authority has a duty to provide good information around finances at an early stage. This provides people with an understanding from the beginning about how they may be expected to contribute financially towards the cost of any Care and Support/Support they receive so that they can start thinking about and planning how they could use their financial resources flexibly to fund a range of potential care options. You should take any opportunity to provide this information, and should particularly make sure that it has been provided whenever a transfer is made to another service that may result in an assessment, review or reassessment.

See: Specific Requirements on the Provision of the Information and Advice around Finances for guidance on the requirements of the Care Act.

See the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

3. Transferring a Review/Reassessment Request

A review is the mechanism by which an existing Care and Support Plan (or Support Plan) is evaluated. This can lead to a revision of the plan or further intervention, such as a reassessment of need.

Unless the review relates to a person with a learning disability, it should be transferred to the appropriate Locality Review Duty Team.

If the person has a learning disability it should be transferred to the Duty All Age Learning Disability Service.

The Duty to Provide Independent Advocacy

Whenever the outcome of a contact or referral is that the person/carer will be involved in any adult Care and Support process (including any assessment, review, reassessment or safeguarding) the Local Authority has a duty under the Care Act to make an independent advocate available to the person/carer when:

There is no appropriate other person to support and represent them; and
They feel that the person/carer would experience substantial difficulty being fully involved in the Care and Support process without support.

Decisions about the need for advocacy should be made as early as possible because advocacy must be provided before the Care and Support function to be carried out can begin. As such if you know that advocacy will be likely you should discuss this with the person and make a referral at the same time as you transfer the request for a review or reassessment.

See Using Independent Advocacy, which includes guidance on how to establish whether a person needs an advocate, the different advocates that are available and how to make a referral.

The Duty to Provide Information and Advice around Financial Assessment

The Local Authority has a duty to provide good information around finances at an early stage. This provides people with an understanding from the beginning about how they may be expected to contribute financially towards the cost of any Care and Support/Support they receive so that they can start thinking about and planning how they could use their financial resources flexibly to fund a range of potential care options. You should take any opportunity to provide this information, and should particularly make sure that it has been provided whenever a transfer is made to another service that may result in an assessment, review or reassessment.

See: Specific Requirements on the Provision of the Information and Advice around Finances for guidance on the requirements of the Care Act.

See the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment.

4. Safeguarding Concern

If, as part of any conversation or information gathering you become concerned that a vulnerable adult or child is experiencing, or at risk of abuse or neglect you must respond appropriately by raising a concern.

See the Safeguarding Adults Procedure, which also includes information about how to raise a children's safeguarding concern.

If you are concerned that an adult or child is in imminent danger from abuse or neglect, or that a criminal act has taken place you should contact the police by dialing 999.

5. Providing Information and Advice

The Local Authority (and anyone representing the Local Authority) has a duty under Section 4 of the Care Act to either provide directly, or provide access to a range of information and advice relating to adult Care and Support, including financial advice. This duty applies equally in respect of all local residents regardless of whether the person with Care and Support needs or carer is known to, lives in, or is already receiving services from the Local Authority.

See: Providing Information and Advice to read more about the duty to provide information and advice under the Care Act, including how information and advice should be provided and the specific information and advice requirements around finances.

Local Information and Advice Resources

Adult care and support information and advice resources can be found on the website.

See: Adult social care.

This section of the procedure will be further developed at a later date.

National Information and Advice Resources

Sometimes it is helpful to contact a well known national organisation with a dedicated information and advice service or help-line. See: National Organisations with Information and Advice Helplines for details of some national organisations offering this service.

Some national organisations do not have dedicated information and advice services but can still provide such support upon request. See: National Contacts for Adult Care and Support for a wider range of useful national contacts for adult Care and Support.

You can also see the Financial Assessment and Charging FAQ Response Support Tool for the answers to some frequently asked questions around financial assessment, including questions relating to Disabled Facilities Grants.

Understanding Information and Advice

Information and advice must be provided in an accessible way so that the person/carer for whom it is intended can best understand and make use of it.

If you feel the person/carer for whom the information and advice is intended will need support to understand it then you should:

Consider whether the person/carer has anyone appropriate who can help them to understand it;
Consider any steps that you can take to support them to understand it (for example talking through the information over the telephone or summarising it in a simpler format); and
Consider the benefit of independent advocacy.

6. Following Up on Information and Advice

Under the Care Act the Local Authority has a duty to not only provide information and advice where it is needed, but to ensure that the information and advice it provides has been effective.

Therefore, when information and advice has been provided you should agree appropriate arrangements to follow up with the person/carer to whom it was given in order to review how effective it has been.

The timescales for this follow up should reflect the individual circumstances and level of risk.

Where you are making arrangements for someone else to follow up on the information and advice you have given (rather than following up on it yourself) you must make sure that you have recorded this in a way that will ensure the person follows up on it at the agreed time.

7. Providing Information about a Person/Carer

The Local Authority has a common law and legal duty to safeguard the confidentiality of all personal information. As an employee of the Local Authority you are bound contractually to respect the confidentiality of any information that you may come into contact with. Under no circumstances should such information be divulged or passed to any persons or organisation in any form unless you have authorisation to do so.

All information sharing that takes place must be in line with data protection legislation (namely the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018) and local policy.

The Caldicott Principles must also be regarded. The Caldicott Principles are a set of principles that apply to the use of confidential information within health and social care organisations and when such information is shared with other organisations and between individuals, both for individual care and for other purposes. For further information, see: The Caldicott Principles.

Any unauthorised disclosure of confidential information may result in disciplinary action of individual prosecution under the Data Protection Act 2018.

For further information and guidance, see: Providing Information about a Person or Carer.

8. Accessing a Prevention Service

There are many kinds of prevention service available. Some are provided by the Local Authority and some are provided by the community or partner organisations, such as health. All available prevention services in the local area should be explored before transferring a referral for a longer term intervention.

Under section 2 of the Care Act the Local Authority cannot provide intensive or on-going long term interventions until it is satisfied that prevention services having been explored and deemed not suitable.

See: Preventing Needs for Care and Support to read more about the duty to prevent needs for Care and Support, including the types of prevention services recognised by the Care Act, when to provide prevention services and how to charge for prevention services.