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Adult Services > General Information

General Information

Fair Cost of Care

The Government is implementing wide-ranging and ambitious reform of adult social care with the white paper ‘People at the Heart of Care’ published in December 2021. To support the implementation of this 10-year vision the implementation of the Market Sustainability and Fair Cost of Care Fund was one of the first steps in the journey to achieve this.

As a condition of receiving future funding, the Council needed to evidence the work being done to prepare their market with the submission of the results of a cost of care exercise for both 65+ care homes and 18+ domiciliary care to DHSC by 14 October 2022.

In progressing the Fair Cost of Care Exercise the Council worked with providers in Tameside to complete the Fair Cost of Care and Market Sustainability exercise utilising in line with the requirements set out by the Government using a combination of tools made available for each sector and a questionnaire designed to support and maximise returns from our providers. This work was completed across July and August 2022 and the formal return for Government was submitted on 14 October 2022.

The following attachments are the results of the work carried out and constitute the Council’s submission to Government:

The Care Act

What is the Care Act?

From April 2015, care and support in England is changing. The Care Act will help to make care and support more consistent across the country.

What is care and support?

Care and Support is the term used to describe the help some adults need to live as well as possible with any illness or disability they may have. It may include help with things like getting out of bed, washing, dressing, getting to work, cooking meals, eating, seeing friends, caring for families and being part of the community.

It might also include emotional support at a time of difficulty and stress, helping people who are caring for an adult family member or friend or even giving others a lift to a social event.

Care and support includes the help given by family and friends, as well as any provided by the Council or other organisations.

Many of us will need care and support at some point in our lives and most people will pay at least something towards the cost of their care. The new national changes are designed to help you plan for the future and put you more in control of the help you receive. Any decisions about your care and support will consider your wellbeing and what is important to you and your family, so you can stay healthy and remain independent for longer.

Eligibility Criteria

From April 2015, there will be a national level of eligibility for care and support needs.

The threshold is based on identifying how a person's needs affect their ability to achieve relevant outcomes and how this impacts on their wellbeing.

In considering whether an adult with care and support needs has eligible needs the Council must consider whether:

The adult's needs arise from or are related to a physical or mental impairment or illness and;

As a result of the adult's needs, the adult is unable to achieve two or more of the
specified outcomes listed below and;

As a consequence of being unable to achieve these outcomes there is or there is
likely to be, a significant impact on the adult's wellbeing.

Outcomes

a) managing and maintaining nutrition;
b) maintaining personal hygiene;
c) managing toilet needs;
d) being appropriately clothed;
e) maintaining a habitable home environment;
f) being able to make use of the home safely;
g) developing and maintaining family or other personal relationships;
h) accessing and engaging in work, training, education or volunteering;
i) making use of necessary facilities or services in the local community including public transport and recreational facilities or services;
j) carrying out any caring responsibilities the adult has for a child.

If we assess that you meet the level of needs, you may be eligible for care and support.

National Eligibility Criteria Regulations 2014

The Assessment Process

The assessment process is one of the most important elements of the care and support system. If you think you may need care and support, we will assess your needs.

At the start of the assessment process, if the Council considers that a person has substantial difficulty in engaging with the process then the Council will consider whether there is anyone appropriate who can support the person to be fully involved. This might be a family member, friend or carer (who is not professionally engaged or remunerated) If there is no one appropriate, then the Council must arrange for an independent advocate.

We will discuss with you what you can do for yourself, what support you need, your wellbeing and what is important to you and your family.

The process will be person-centred throughout and will support you to have choice and control over your care and support.

Together, we will:-

Understand your situation better;
Work out what options there are for managing or making your situation better;
Work out what you want to be able to do & how much support you think you'll need;
Understand what the risks are if you don't have any support;
Make decisions about what happens next.

We will look at how you manage everyday living tasks (such as washing, going to the toilet, cooking, cleaning), your freedom to make choices, your safety and how much involvement you have with your family and community.

The process begins with an assessment of your needs and a decision about whether your needs are eligible including a financial assessment where necessary. This will determine whether you need to pay for your own care.

After the assessment process is finished, the decision can then be made about whether you are entitled to care and support arranged by the Council and how much you will be required to pay for that care.

The information you give is confidential and we will only share it with those people who need to know about your situation to help you. We will always ask your permission before sharing that information.

Support Planning

What is a Support Plan?

If because of your Assessment, we are going to arrange services, we will discuss this with you and then write down the arrangements in a Support Plan.

Your Support Plan will describe:

Who is responsible for providing services
What they have agreed to do
When they will do it
Who is responsible for making sure things are going to plan
The names of key people and how to contact them
Services will not always be provided direct from Adult Services, sometimes we arrange for private or voluntary agencies to provide services on our behalf.

We will give you a copy of your Support Plan in the language or format of your choice.

As part of the planning process, the Council will talk to you about a personal budget. This is the amount of money that the Council has worked out it will cost to arrange the necessary care and support.

This includes any amount that the Council is going to pay itself towards those costs (which may range from all, to none of the total). The personal budget helps the adult to decide how much control they want to have over arranging their own care and support by seeing how much money is available to buy the care they need.

How will we check whether your Support Plan is still meeting your needs?

Your Support Plan will be reviewed regularly. However, if you feel your Support Plan is not working you may ask for a review at any time. We want to know whether:

You are happy with the services we have arranged and if not how we can improve the situation.
You are managing at home with the services provided.
Your circumstances have changed and you need a reassessment to look at different services.
As a result of a review, we may either increase or reduce services if there are any changes in your circumstances.

If you or the person you are caring for has complex health care needs we may also recommend that you have input from other services such as community nurses, occupational therapists, behavioural therapist and physiotherapists.

Will you have to pay?

Possibly. Charges for services are based on your ability to pay and will vary. Staff will carry out a Financial Assessment and you will be asked to provide details of your income and savings.

Even if you pay for your own care, or are "self funding", you are still entitled to help, information and advice from us.

Help and support with Direct Payments is available, please talk with your Social Worker or Assessor.

Market Position Statement

Tameside Council’s Adult Social Care Market Position Statement was first published in 2014 and covered a three year period. Whilst the document wasn’t formally reviewed as planned the principles outlined in the statement held true so much of the content is still relevant. A formal review however is currently being undertaken, though this has been delayed due to the Covid 19 pandemic and it is expected that a revised Market Position Statement will be published towards the end of 2021 financial year.
The revised Market Position Statement will be aimed at existing and potential providers of adult social care and support. It will reflect the continued dialogue between the Council, people who use services, carers, providers and others about the vision for the future of local social care markets.
The Market Position Statement published in 2014 is linked for information as it does set out many of the principles that will appear in the new publication

Adult Services – Local Account 2021-22

The Adult Social Care Local Account for 2021-22 provides a review of the service’s overall performance during the year. It highlights the strengths of the services and support provided to our service users, their family and carers and our residents. As well as acknowledging the continued work that needs to be undertaken to improve and innovate those services.
Adult Social Care Local Account 2021-22

Complaints, Compliments, Suggestions and Feedback

Tameside Council strives to deliver excellent customer service. The Council delivers a wide range of services and whilst we endeavour to provide a consistent, high quality service, we also recognise that occasionally issues can occur and things can go wrong.

We recognise the importance of listening to any feedback we receive, as this provides a valuable source of information; it lets us know what we are doing well and equally where service improvements can possibly be made.

In most cases, before any issues are considered via the formal complaints process, they must have been highlighted to the appropriate Council service through the service request process. By raising the issue as a service request initially, it allows us the opportunity to resolve the matter quickly and efficiently, so that you can get the service that you want.

How a complaint can be made

A complaint can be made in the following ways: -

By email - complaints@tameside.gov.uk
Via the on-line form on the Councils website
By telephone - 0161 342 3535
By letter – TMBC Complaints, Level 4 (Information & Improvement), PO BOX 317, Ashton under Lyne, OL6 0GS
In person at any Customer Services Centre or Library

For further information about the council’s complaints process please click below:
Complaints, Compliments, Suggestions and Feedback

The Complaints Policy and Guidance for Staff can be found here:
Adult Social Care complaints guidance

Safeguarding Adults

Adults may be harmed or taken advantage of by those in a position of power over them. Every adult has a right to:

A life free of fear
Be treated with dignity
Have their choices respected and not be forced to do anything against their will

Who may be at risk of abuse?

Many adults over the age of 18 rely on other people to help them in their day to day living. This may be due to illness, disability or frailty. They may be at risk from people they know such as a relative, friend, neighbour or paid carer, or, less frequently, by a stranger.

Abuse may occur anywhere including in their own home, in care homes or in day care centres or hospitals

What do we mean by abuse?

Abuse can take many forms such as:

Hitting, slapping or pushing
Shouting or swearing which makes the person afraid
Unwanted touching, kissing or sexual intercourse
Money or property taken without consent or under pressure
Not being cared for properly or denied privacy, choice or social contact

Who can Abuse?

Family
Friends
Neighbours
Informal Carers
Paid Carers
Strangers

Anyone who has power over a vulnerable adult person at a particular point in time

What can you do if you suspect abuse?

If you know of a worrying situation, please do not ignore it. You can contact the Safeguarding Adults Team on any of the numbers below to report your concerns or for more information. You do not have to give your name and any information you give to us will be treated confidentially. We will always respect the wishes and feelings of the adult at risk.

Who to contact

You can contact Adult Services to report abuse and for further advice.

Adult Services
Integrated Urgent Care Team
Crickets Lane Health Centre
Crickets Lane
Ashton-under-Lyne
Tameside
OL6 6NG.

Contact the Safeguarding Adults Team on 0161 342 2400

Adult Abuse

Inspection of Services - Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The role of the CQC (Care Quality Commission) as an independent regulator is to monitor, inspect and regulate services that provide health and social care. The CQC will then publish their findings, including performance ratings to help people choose care.
The CQC set out what good and outstanding care looks like and make sure services meet fundamental standards, which care must never fall.
Activities the CQC regulate include:

Treatment, care and support services for adults in care homes and in people's own homes (both personal and nursing care).
Treatment, care and support provided by hospitals, GPs, dentists, ambulances and mental health services.
Services for people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act.

For further information about the CQC, or if you want to check the latest inspection reports for any of these services, please search on the CQC website:
https://www.cqc.org.uk/what-we-do/services-we-regulate/services-we-regulate

The council has key services that are CQC regulated and the latest reports for these services can be found by clicking on the links below:

Tameside Learning Disabilities Service
Wilshaw House – where the council’s Reablement and Shared Lives Services are based.

The Care Quality Commission

Healthwatch

Healthwatch is the national independent consumer champion created to gather and represent the views of the public. Healthwatch will play a role at both national and local level and will make sure that the views of the public and people who use services are taken into account.

Every voice counts when it comes to shaping the future of health and social care, and when it comes to improving it for today. Everything that local Healthwatch does will bring the voice and influence of local people to the development and delivery of local services.

Healthwatch Tameside (local)

What we do

Healthwatch Tameside has four main areas of work:

1. Listening to local people. We want to know about your experiences of using local health and social care services.

2. Influencing services. We use what local people tell us about their experiences to help local services to make changes. Sometimes this is about telling them when something isn't working, sometimes this is about telling them about a gap in services and sometimes it's about helping them to understand how changes they are planning might affect local people.

3. Providing an information (signposting) service. This is about helping you to know where to get information that will help you to make an informed choice about what health or care service you (or a family member) might access.

4. Helping with NHS complaints. If you are making a formal complaint about an NHS service you have received, we can help you to understand how the complaints system works. We can also help you to write any letters or prepare for meetings that are part of your complaint resolution.

For more information about Healthwatch Tameside and how to get in touch, please follow:

Healthwatch Tameside