Welcome to this video about the Care Act
duties on an assessment of need for care and support or support for an unpaid carer please
note that we have other videos on this topic around the Care Act on the SCIE website along with
other resources and a handout with key messages and reflective questions to support embedding
the learning my name is Paula and with me today is June hi June hello thank you for your time
in a previous video around an assessment of need for care and support we explored
what this duty was and had a discussion around how we can identify if there is an appearance
of need for care and support so now June and I are going to have a conversation
around some of the things that a social care practitioner will need to take into account
and consider when they're undertaking an assessment of need okay June thank you
so when we are thinking about what we need to consider when we're complying with this
duty is that we need to be very clear that an assessment of need is not an assessment of
eligibility the Care Act is very clear that there are three distinct phases and processes which are
the assessment of need the determination of eligibility and the care and support
plan and it's not possible for us to undertake a determination of eligibility until the assessment
of need has been completed the assessment of need is to identify the personal and desired outcomes
that an individual would like for themselves to achieve on a day-to-day basis another important
element of consideration when we are working with an individual under an assessment of need
intervention is making sure that the assessment is appropriate and proportionate so as soon as we've
identified that there is an appearance of need for care and support and the assessment process
has begun we need to think about what would be the most appropriate and proportionate response
to the individuals presenting needs which will be assessed the decision around appropriate and
proportionate should be led by the individual and so it's important that the social care
practitioner provides information and advice to the individual so that they understand the options
that are available to them as with most things related to the Care Act the approach we take to an
assessment of needs is not a one-size-fits-all and should be undertaken in a way which will
maximise the individual's involvement in the discussions and the decision-making process
we need to take into account for example their preferred style of communication the length and
times of the assessment conversation and other people that they may wish to be involved so while
it's important that social care practitioner is able to gain a full understanding of the
person's circumstances ensuring that we capture any fluctuation of needs we don't want to be too
intrusive in that person's life this is why it's important that as early as possible the social
care practitioner or the local authority tries to establish at least a baseline understanding of
what is important to that individual what they're trying to achieve and then a decision can be made
about the appropriate and proportionate assessment moving forward so June I've just got a question
for you so what would be import so let's say that I was going to come and have a conversation around
you with you around what your requirements are and to enable you to to live a life that matters
to you what would be important for me to consider about you so that I can make sure that I'm giving
you every opportunity to be able to prepare for and then have that assessment conversation with me
well I think that you need to have a excuse me an understanding
of who I am so that assessment of my requirements would be within the context of
my whole identity if you like so that would extend to what sort of things I I enjoyed but I don't
want to do and who is there already around me to support me to do these things it's
really important to do that that you establish a relationship with me now you know just popping in
for 10 minutes to do an assessment would for you decide when I put the emphasis on you deciding
it's not satisfactory you need to to get to know me a little bit because you can't get to know me
wholey but what is important to me so establishing relationship that that working in a relationship
based way it's important respect me through the whole process I think it's really important that
you don't come with preconceived ideas about what I might need we are all subject to our
preconceptions or views and values and beliefs underpin that if you think within a sort of
framework of service provision and finance that's not going to be conducive to you listening to what
I need because actually I might surprise you and identify something that doesn't cost anything to
to people who might provide services for example I'm thinking you know community support so if it's
about isolation and loneliness well you know there are other ways to do it that is more
I was going to use the word holistic because actually it's engaging with with other people
and so so you know if you don't come in with those preconceptions listen to me then you might you
might find that we're agreeing far more than I would than we would have thought so I think that
not being defensive on your part not being defensive on my part it's really important and
to in your assessment of need you might you might find in that relationship form you might find that
I'm well you will find that I'm unique but you might find that I'm further perhaps I'm my own
empowerment journey than somebody else might be so the solutions that we come to together
might look very different if you've said some beautiful words there
June in terms of together in terms of coming to those solutions together in terms of
respect and that you're unique and absolutely an assessment of needs is around drawing out those
uniqueness and those qualities that a person has and using them to enable them to achieve
you know what is important to you so from what you were saying then an appropriate way of having an
assessment conversation with you would be face to face where you can sit and have a conversation and
feel like you're beginning that relationship with the social care practitioner yeah okay and that's
absolutely fantastic and for other people they may prefer to communicate via email or telephone
conversation or drop into a local hub and that is absolutely fine as well so what what we need to be
doing is ensuring a social care practitioners that we are listening to the individual for whom the
assessment relates to and that we're doing what we can to maximise that individual's involvement
in that discussion and to feel as comfortable as possible moving forward with each other in
a relationship as June so beautifully described it okay so June I just want you to think about in
the past when you've had an assessment okay and I know that it hasn't been an assessment of need
under the Care Act but you have experienced an assessment process what was done in that
process to kind of help you or if anything was done it might not have been but to help you feel
that it was a conversation okay and that the social care practitioner would be gathering
information through that conversation to help with deciding what might happen next so I think
that an assessment happened in my case very briefly very quickly judgments
were made which actually I will I would challenge all the time that
if somebody was listening to what I thought if they'd asked me and they would listen to me they
actually responded in a way that didn't take account at all of my views my words even and
the process of assessment the decision was made very quickly and it was quite a
well it was a completely was going to say one-sided conversation but there were actually
three people involved three professionals and myself and so it was a very very over
over one-sided conversation and within half an hour I suppose it was decided if that thing time
decided that I would have to have a certain course of treatment and how that would happen
and so I would definitely say there was no concept consideration of the things I've been talking
about not having preconceived ideas not coming in with almost a well a service head what you think
I will need even before you've spoken to me so for me there are things that could have been done
very very differently I will be talking about this in another video in a bit more detail but
I I just know the things that I would now say I would want to see happen in any interaction from
the first minute you come in my door so I don't know if you want to talk about the sorts of things
I might have wanted to have yes yes so yeah so anything really that you think would help you to
feel comfortable with that conversation what you know that we would need to have to to understand
what your needs or your requirements are yeah absolutely so some of them I've alluded to before
but it is really really in that situation see they see me as the whole person come in and see me
talk to me about my life in a holistic way and what relationships I have what support I've got
I remember just anecdotally I have a partner that I love very much and he was my partner then and I
didn't disclose anything about him not because I didn't want to because I know if you ask me
at the end of the at the end of this whole process of you know a few months later
possibly more than a few months but a few months later
the practitioner disclosed the fact that he had never he'd never thought he didn't know about a
partner and that my partner then supported me to go in this is when he first discovered him when
he I was trying to get to my records and have a look at those and practitioner said is he a social
worker so I said no he's my partner actually but that was an important relationship in my life but
all the time there was no knowledge so it's about my relationships my support he was is and was then
very supportive my partner that I'm a member of a community that I have family no reference
was made to my children you know where were they how what was going to happen during this period
of treatment supposedly care but I was just seen in the context of a diagnosis magnificent things
there and in terms of what our responsibilities are when we're undertaking an assessment of need
and one is to see the individual in the context of their lives and what's important to them
what's important for them and why and so I think what what you know what I've got from what you
have said June is that you know that ability for it to feel like the assessment process to
feel like a conversation is really important to you isn't it very much so yeah yeah without
the implications of the potency of the power that the profession is bringing don't undertaking an
assessment of need I know the things that I'm trying to find is what's important to
June what does she want to achieve what does she feel like her needs or her requirements
are in relation to achieving those things that's important to her and then what is the impact on
her wellbeing and I know that's the purpose of the conversation so I don't take any assessment
documents I go with a pen and a notebook so that I can record what you're saying to me
in your own words because you've chosen those words because they're important to you and then
you know going on and just having a free-flowing conversation that you lead and I help you to lead
that conversation through the types of questions that I ask and give you an opportunity to think
about the response you want to share with me in relation to the question that I've asked you but
in part the practical things that you need to do to show your respect your coming is my house and
my experience it was it's actually important that you address me how I want to be addressed I mean
there are some sort of terms of endearment that assessors can use which aren't appropriate
you know we're often referred to as mum and I'm not that person's mum you know and just really
checking how how I want to be addressed and to be known as that's a practical you know there's all
sorts of practicalities like timing and phoning and that but one of the things that I'm quite a
stickler about and I actually do probably annoy a lot of people who come in professional roles not
just in care you've come in to do a job on the plumbing or something I always request that they
take their shoes off of the door and whether they have it or if they have any other issues
which some of the professionals do bring you know and doesn't seem to phase people now because they
got used yeah but to me that's important is it something to do with my identity I don't know
because maybe coming from the far east there is more of a tradition and shows being left at
the door hello maybe it's not in my case that's what's driving me my OCD is for my OCD which is
my condition diagnosis an absolutely fantastic because all of those things that you've just
explained there are the things that a social care practitioner needs to understand so that we can
make sure the assessment of need is appropriate and proportionate because the reason that that is
you know they're really important principles under the Care Act is because then that means that we're
doing what we can to support the individual to feel as comfortable as possible having discussions
with us about things that are very personal and intimate in their lives about acknowledging areas
where perhaps things aren't working quite how they would like so if it is a matter of taking my shoes
off before I come into your living room then I need to do that because I need to be supporting
you to be as involved in the assessment conversation as possible fantastic thank you
so thank you for listening remember to check further resources and other videos on this
and other themes around the Care Act on the SCIE website thank you for your time June