Requesting Adult Social Care Support

1. Raising a Safeguarding Concern

Adults

Please see Sutton’s website for details of how to report abuse of an adult please see: Report abuse of an adult - Sutton Council and Referrals can be made using the Adult Safeguarding Concern online contact form.

If you are not able to use the online form referrals can be made via telephone 24 hours a day using 020 8770 6770 or e-mail using referralpoint@sutton.gov.uk.

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

Children

Please see Sutton’s website for details on how to report abuse of a child, please see: Report a concern about a child (Sutton Council)

If you are not able to use the online form referrals can be made via e-mail using CFCS@Sutton.gov.uk or via telephone:

Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm: 020 8770 6001/6072
Evenings, weekends and bank holidays: 020 8770 5000

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

2. Steps to Consider before Requesting Adult Social Care Support

Self Assessment

See the 'Self Assessment and Self Referral' page of our website for information about completing a self assessment.

Information and Advice

If the purpose of the contact is to access information and advice about adult Care and Support you can visit our dedicated website pages.

See: Adult social care.

Financial assessment

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.

National information and advice contacts

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.

Understanding the Information and Advice

If the person for whom the information and advice is intended will need additional support to understand it then the Local Authority may be able to facilitate access to an independent advocate. However, there is no duty upon the Local Authority to do so and any decisions will be made on the available evidence and presenting circumstances. To discuss this further please contact us.

Consent

Referral

Referrals for adult Care and Support interventions cannot be taken unless:

  1. The person or carer the referral relates to is making the referral;
  2. The person or carer the referral relates to has given their consent to the referral; or
  3. The person 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
  4. The person that the referral relates to is at risk of harm from abuse or neglect.

Review

Requests for a review of an existing Care and Support/Support Plan can be made by anyone who has a concern that a plan may not be working as intended or a person's/carer's needs have changed. However, the person or carer whose plan it is must be consulted when deciding how to respond to the request, so it is important that wherever possible they know the request is being made from the outset.

Information sharing

Information relating to a particular person or carer already receiving a Care and Support service cannot be shared unless:

  1. The person or carer to whom it relates is the one requesting it;
  2. The person or carer to whom the information relates has given consent for it to be shared with the person requesting it; or
  3. The information relates to a person with Care and Support needs who lacks capacity to consent for it to be shared but has a legally authorised person that agrees to it being shared;
  4. The information relates to a person with Care and Support needs who lacks capacity to consent for it to be shared and the Local Authority makes a decision under Best Interests that it should be shared with the person requesting it; or
  5. The information relates to a person with Care and Support needs who is at risk of harm from abuse or neglect.

What can be provided without consent

Unless one of the above situations applies only general information and advice about adult Care and Support can be provided.

Where information is gathered or shared it will be done so with full regard to the Caldicott Principles, Data Protection Legislation and local information sharing policies.

See: Providing Information about a Person or Carer.

Consent to Contact/Referral and Mental Capacity

If there are concerns that the person with Care and Support needs may lack capacity to consent to the contact or referral then a proportionate mental capacity assessment must be carried out to determine whether this is the case. This can be carried out by the person making the contact or referral if they have the necessary skills to do so, or by the Local Authority as part of the referral process.

If the person has capacity to consent following the mental capacity assessment their consent must be obtained before making the contact or referral.

If the person lacks capacity to consent following the mental capacity assessment then a Best Interest Decision must be made to confirm that making the contact or referral will be in their Best Interests.

See the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Resource and Practice Toolkit, with guidance about assessing capacity and making best interest decisions.

Prevention Services

Prevention services are those services that delay, reduce or prevent the development of Care and Support needs.

Some prevention services are provided by the Local Authority and some are provided by the community or partner organisations, such as health. Prevention services provided by the community or partner organisations can routinely be accessed without Local Authority involvement so it can often be worth exploring these before contacting the Local Authority.

If you make a referral the local authority will need to establish what prevention services have been accessed or explored already and which prevention services may be beneficial in order to fulfill its legal responsibilities around prevention.

3. Requesting Adult Social Care Support

How to request adult social care support

The best way to request support is by completing the Self Assessment form to make a Self Referral. This can be downloaded from our website.

See: Support to Live at Home - Self Assessment and Self Referral.

Completed forms should be sent back to: London Borough of Sutton, Referral Point, Civic Offices, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, SM1 1EA or emailed to: referralpoint@sutton.gov.uk.

If this is not accessible or you would like further advice before making a referral you can call us on 020 8770 6080 (Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm).

What happens if I am eligible for support?

If you are eligible for support a social care worker will develop a support plan with you detailing how your eligible needs will be met. Additionally, you will be asked to provide information on your financial position because you may have to contribute towards your social care. We will calculate what you need to pay (if anything) for your support and will let you know how much money (if any) Sutton Council will contribute towards meeting your assessed eligible needs – this is called your ‘personal budget’. This assessment covers all presenting needs but the Council will only ever contribute towards supporting you with unmet eligible needs.

What happens if I am not eligible for support?

Not everyone who completes a form will be eligible for support. If this is the case we can provide you with details of several voluntary organisations who can provide information and advice on local organisations that are available to provide support.

Sharing of Personal Information

To ensure that we can provide a joined up service we sometimes need to share your information with other organisations such as the NHS or providers of care and support. To allow us to do this we need you to consent to share information. If you wish to have more information regarding this, please request this from your social care worker.

What do I have to complete?

We ask that you complete as much of the Self Assessment sections as possible. The remaining sections will be completed by a social worker or an assessment officer.

Does the form have to be completed by me?

If you do not want to complete it, or cannot, then you can ask someone else to complete the form on your behalf. Wherever possible the answers given on the questionnaire should be from your point of view, not the view of the person who is completing on your behalf. If someone else is completing the form on your behalf then they should also complete the questions on pages 5 and 11.

4. What Makes a Good Referral

Knowing what information to provide in a referral

Under the Care Act an assessment begins as soon as the Local Authority receives information relating to the person. How the assessment progresses will very much depend on the quality and comprehensiveness of the information provided at the referral stage. As such, it is important that the person making the referral provides the right information in the right way, so that:

  1. The service receiving the referral can determine the best course of action following referral; and
  2. The person/carer does not have to unnecessarily repeat what they have said should their assessment progress into a more prolonged intervention.
When making a referral, please ensure that the following information is included:
  1. All personal details, including the person's/carer's full name (and also preferred name or previous surname), address and preferred contact details, date of birth, national insurance number and NHS number;
  2. The name, relationship and contact details of the person making the referral (if not the person/carer themselves);
  3. When and how the person/carer consented to the referral;
  4. If a person with Care and Support needs has not consented to the referral, was a mental capacity assessment carried out and is the referral being made under Best Interests;
  5. What the presenting issue is from the person's/carer's perspective and what they would like to happen;
  6. 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;
  7. 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;
  8. What information and advice has been provided to the person/carer or what information and advice may be required;
  9. What prevention services have been used, considered or may be of benefit;
  10. 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;
  11. 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;
  12. Details of any previous or current Care and Support services (whether the Local Authority is providing them or not);
  13. 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
  14. Any other information deemed relevant by the person/carer or referrer (if the referrer is not the person/carer).

Missing information: Written referrals

If any of the above information is missing without a valid reason the referral may be returned to the referrer for additional information to support the outcome decision.

Missing information: Telephone referrals

If any of the above information is not available when the referral is being made the referrer may be asked to make further contact to provide the additional information required.