Four Steps to Enhanced Quality of Life
Assessment Identified risks and needs clearly highlighted within a comprehensive assessment.- Support Plan A detailed outline of how identified needs to be met and risks alleviated.
- Procurement Facilitating the right care arrangements to meet your needs.
- Review Undertaken to ensure care arrangements are functioning well and address any concerns in service delivery.
Our overall approach is holistic in nature so as to ensure we fully encapsulate the overall needs of our clients and to ensure we are able to advise appropriately pertaining to how best to meet your identified needs. Our holistic approach is fundamental in enabling us to address your overall needs; and incorporates a risk assessment, inclusive of all relevant factors that can impinge upon your daily health, safety and well-being. Our assessments are undertaken by qualified Social Workers in line with The Care Act and therefore inform you as to whether you would meet the national eligibility criteria for Social Services intervention/funding.
Assessments
There are numerous benefits to having an assessment and support plan as they are essential tools in ensuring you only purchase the level of care you actually require, to meet your needs and ensure your well-being.
For self-funders considering residential / nursing care or support within your own home, our assessments and support planning are essential for the following reasons:
Assessment
Our assessments provide clarity as to whether your needs meet the national eligibility criteria. The eligibility criteria has to be met, should you require Social Services funding to take over your care home fees, once your personal funds have depleted. For self-funders who often make independent care arrangements, an Epiphany assessment can avoid unexpected surprises in the future. Local Authorities can and do refuse to continue funding your care home placements, if your level of need does not meet the eligibility criteria. This would require clients to seek alternative sources of private funding where feasible or return to live back in the community.
Support Plan
Clarity over your level of care needs is embodied within the support plan, which clearly outlines what your identified needs are and your expressed preferences as to how those needs should be met. We fully recognise each client is an individual in their own right and are fully committed to a personalised approach with our fully customised support plans clearly capturing your preferences for service delivery. Support plans are particularly important documents and need to be well written, detailed and precise to avoid any confusion about how clients specifically want their care delivered.
Procurement / Brokerage
Upon completion of the support plan clients then need to consider how they wish their care to be delivered. Clients are able to pursue care services independently or we are happy to assist and facilitate procurement on your behalf in line with your expressed wishes. We are able to explore the options available to you, while explaining the differences between the various care options available and which one would be most appropriate for you.
Being Supported at Home
We are able to present you with a list of care agencies to select from, alongside costing’s and CQC ratings. Alternatively, we can source a carer via an introduction agency, whereby the identified carer is directly employed by clients.
The main distinction between a domiciliary agency providing care in your home and an introduction agency, is that all domiciliary care providers must be registered by the Quality Care Commission (CQC) and are regulated and inspected to ensure standards of care are appropriately maintained and delivered. This also provides a safeguard to the quality of care provision as there is a duty to ensure staff maintain have the right training to undertake their roles effectively.
Residential Nursing Care
There is a clear distinction between residential and nursing care, so it’s important to ensure you pursue the option that is most appropriate to identified needs, particularly as the costs vary with nursing care generally being more expensive. For those with extensive nursing needs, there may also be scope for Continuing Healthcare funding which is free via the NHS should you meet their criteria.
We are able to provide a list of appropriate care homes and can also assist with negotiating fees to ensure you only pay for the care you need as specified within your support plan. Where there is scope for continuing care funding we are able to initially complete a checklist on your behalf to determine whether you meet the criteria for a full continuing healthcare assessment. assist with referrals and advocate on your behalf throughout the process.
Reviews
Reviews can be undertaken at any time but are usually scheduled for around six weeks after a new service has commenced, then annually. The objective is to ensure that the needs highlighted within the support plan are being appropriately met and to address any potential problems in the delivery of care and or any arising problems due to a change in needs.
Unscheduled Reviews can be facilitated at any time and provide the perfect solution to evaluating how well a support plan is functioning and being delivered or when concerns arise, pertaining to any aspects of the delivery of care. Typical examples are where there is discontent with care provider, an evident change in a client’s health or physical capabilities. Reviews facilitate the prompt implementation of solutions to maintain and maximise client health and well-being by expediently identifying and eliminating potential risks.
We are able to provide independent reviews of support plans at any time, inclusive of support plans which are already in place and functional but encountering problems with the effectiveness of care delivery.
