Carers Pathway and Carers Assessment
Worcestershire Carers Pathway
What is Worcestershire's Carer Pathway?
The Carers Pathway is a newly improved process that
was created to ensure all carers who contact Worcestershire Health
and Social Care Access Service (Access Service) to request a Carers
Assessment, have the opportunity to receive telephone support,
advice and information at the right time for the right reasons.
Previously when a carer contacted the Access Service for a
Carers Assessment, the request was immediately sent through to the
appropriate health or social work team and the next contact would
be directly from that team. Individual teams workloads vary
and a carer may have to wait for their assessment. The new pathway
ensures that carers receive timely information and support in
advance of that.
What has changed in the referral process?
If you are a carer who calls the Access Service to request a
Carers Assessment you will now have the opportunity to be directly
referred to Carers Action Worcestershire (a Worcestershire
voluntary carers organisation) for a Carers 'Wellcheck' prior to
receiving a statutory Carers Assessment.
The Carers Wellcheck is carried out via a telephone conversation
with a member of Carers Action Worcestershire (CAW) as soon as
possible to discover what is important to you at that moment in
time, what resources/strengths/networks are available at a
non-statutory level to support you and most importantly it gives
you time to talk.
Once completed, if you would still benefit from a Carers
Assessment then the information gathered by the Carers Wellcheck
can be sent confidentially and directly on to the Access Service
along with a referral for a full Carers Assessment (to be carried
out by a statutory Health or Social Care Worker).
How does this help you if you are a carer?
This improved pathway has a number of benefits for you as a
carer.
- It gives a timely response to your request for support.
You will have the opportunity to access different types of services
that are available without having a Carers Assessment. So the
support can begin immediately, at that point of contact.
- Reduction in the amount of any duplication of information being
taken as the Carers Wellcheck information is passed to the Health
and Social Work team with the request for an assessment
- A more timely and appropriate response from area teams.
- We want you to feel valued and listened to at the earliest
possible opportunity and feel clearer about what is going to happen
next and by when
Will Carers Action Worcestershire carry out the statutory
Carers Assessment?
No. CAW cannot do this as they are not a statutory body
and this must be carried out by a Social or Health care
professional.
Worcestershire Carers Assessment
What is a Carers Assessment?
Having a Carers Assessment is your opportunity
to talk with a Social/Health Care Worker about your needs and
feelings as a carer. The purpose of the carer assessment is to
consider:
- how caring impacts on your life and allows you to talk about
your needs
- the support needed to help you to continue to provide care or
to decide who should provide this if you are unable to
continue
- your own health and family commitments as well as your work,
education and training needs, and the impact that your caring role
might have on these
The way Worcestershire County Council make a decision about the
help and support we can provide for carers is by carrying out this
assessment — it is not a test and there are no wrong answers.
Carers Assessment Factsheet
Download the Carers
Assessment - Information for Carers (PDF 547 KB)
factsheet which includes information about:
- What is the purpose of a Carers Assessment?
- What the Carers Assessment will look at
- What your Carers Support Plan may identify
- Preparing for your assessment
- After the Assessment
- How to request a Carers Assessment
This page was last reviewed 13 May 2013 at 14:57.
The page is next due for review 9 November 2014.