How Will it be Decided Which Services will be Provided to Me?

Eligibility Criteria

The Fair Access to Care Services Guidance for Adult Social Care Needs, issued by the Department of Health in the Local Authority Circular 2002 (LAC 2002 13), set a national framework for criteria against which each Local Authority must assess a person’s care needs.  The criteria are not based on how much a service will cost, but on the seriousness of risk posed to a person’s independence by a need for care services that is not being met.  They are divided into four bands, which are applied nationally, in ascending order of risk to a person’s independence. 

Each Local Authority sets its own threshold that a service user must pass to become eligible for services.  Those who fall into lower bands may be provided with services, but only if funding allows.  Each Local Authority has different practice guidance and different budgetary constraints, with the effect that people with social care needs are again forced to play the ‘postcode lottery’. 

The application of national criteria means that every person who presents to a Local Authority has their needs assessed against the same framework.  However, because of differing budgetary considerations, two people presenting themselves in Essex and in Derbyshire, with identical needs for services, will not necessarily receive the same decision.

We have provided links to the various Eligibility Criteria for some of the Local Authorities in the area below:

Essex County Council:
http://www.essexcc.gov.uk/vip8/ecc/ECCWebsite/content/ binaries/documents/Policy_Practice_guide_3.pdf

Suffolk County Council
http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/CareAndHealth/FairAccess.htm

Norfolk County Council
http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/ public/documents/general_resources/ncc020074.pdf

Cambridgeshire County Council
http://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/ E064A279-363A-41BB-82C0-0371F24AFDA6/0/eligibility.pdf

The Care Plan

Following the assessment of a person’s needs, a Care Plan should be drawn up which sets out what needs will be met, when and how.  This should be provided to the person with care needs and their carer to look at, along with the written decision about what services they have been assessed as being eligible for.