Options Northampton - A guide to care and independent living Winter 2018 by Octagon D&M Ltd

OPTIONS A guide to care and independent living

Leaving hospital

Northampton

Winter 2018

What’s next?

NHS continuing healthcare Who’s eligible?

SOCIAL CARE

tips

FREE

guide CONTRIBUTORS: Age UK Northamptonshire Alzheimer’s Society Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust NHS Choices

GLAMIS HALL We work closely with you to help you make the right decision and provide a service tailored around your exact needs. We tailor our care packages to meet your individual requirements: • Personal care • Dementia care • Companionship • Domestic support

• Nutritional support • Practical home help • Help with medication

Tel: 01604 636980 Web: www.carexl.co.uk Suite 54, Burlington House, 369 Wellingborough Road, Northampton NN1 4EU

LUNCH CLUB - Monday to Friday, 11:30am-1:30pm 3-course lunch – pre-booking essential VIP CLUB - Monday to Friday 9:30am-3:00pm Affordable daily rates Enjoy a freshly-cooked 3 course lunch, plus activities and time to relax with friends • Hairdresser, Beautician & Podiatrist • Café and Shop • Personal care and Assisted bathing • Transport available or use the WELLIBUS – it’s FREE if you have a bus pass Call 01933 677326 Email info@glamishall.org.uk or visit our website www.glamishall.org.uk Goldsmith Road, Wellingborough, NN8 3RU Registered Charity Number 1160317

Regulated by the Care Quality Commission

YOUR CARE, YOUR HOME, YOUR CHOICE Here at NNCA we offer a variety of services to suit your needs, we can tailor your package to suit your lifestyle. Our services include: ◆P ersonal Care

◆ Companionship

◆S upport with Medication

◆ Days Out

◆M eal Preparation

◆ General Day to day

◆L aundry

requirements

All our staff are Criminal record checked and are trained professional care givers. If you, a relative or friend are interested in learning more about our services please contact our team today for a no obligation visit. We are registered with Care Quality Commission and UKHCA NNCA have a wide range of staff to help look after all ages from children through young adults to the elderly and frail. Unit 7 Ross Road, Weedon Road Industrial Estate, Northampton, NN5 5AX

More Than Mobility 25 Weston Favell Shopping Centre, Northampton NN3 8JZ Northampton Nursing & Carers Agency Ltd

Your Care, Your Home, Your Choice

Tel: 01604 621 030 info@nnca.co.uk www.nnca.co.uk

Contents Our discharge suite..............................................................................................................................4 Problems or queries.............................................................................................................................4 Our hospital team – the Integrated Discharge Team.........................................................................5 How am I referred to the Integrated Discharge Team?.....................................................................5 The assessment process by the Integrated Discharge Team..............................................................7 Discharge from Hospital......................................................................................................................7 Important Information before you leave – Self Checklist.................................................................8 Getting the most out of your assessment...........................................................................................8 More about the assessment.................................................................................................................9 Assessments and carers........................................................................................................................9 Intermediate care services.................................................................................................................10 Intermediate Care Team (ICT)............................................................................................................10 Avery Care Homes..............................................................................................................................11 Short Term Assessment and Re-ablement Service (START)..............................................................11 24 hour care homes............................................................................................................................11 NHS continuing healthcare...........................................................................................................12-14 Personalised care...........................................................................................................................14-15 What is NHS-funded nursing care?...................................................................................................16 Paying for your own care and support........................................................................................17-18 Care services in your home...........................................................................................................19-20 The Motability Scheme......................................................................................................................21 Other sources of help for when you have left hospital..............................................................22-23 The Care Quality Commission Social Care top tips...........................................................................24 Assistive Technology – What is it?.....................................................................................................25 Age UK Northamptonshire...........................................................................................................26-27 Alzheimer’s Society Services in Northampton..................................................................................28 NHS Hospitals and services in Northamptonshire............................................................................29 Useful contacts..............................................................................................................................30-31

Welcome and

introduction

This guide is intended to help you, your carer and your relatives understand how your local health services can help you after discharge from hospital. Also information to help you to live independently or access support and care services in your area.

OCTAGON DE S IG N & M ARKE TING LT D

The majority of people are able to return home following a stay in hospital without any additional support. If you feel you or your family member will require support to return home, please speak with the ward team who will be able to discuss your options with you. Where necessary the ward team will work with our Integrated Discharge Team to support you in developing a plan, to ensure that you can be discharged home as quickly and as smoothly as possible. This guide explains some of these processes, and explains the role of the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach in the hospital discharge process.

Our discharge suite NGH has a discharge suite, providing a comfortable area where patients who are ready to leave hospital can safely await their transport home. It is situated close to the Cheyne Walk entrance, near the eye department and optician’s shop. The discharge suite offers a safe, warm, comfortable area for patients to wait for collection, medications to take home or a last dose of intravenous medication. The suite has four rooms with beds for patients who require this, plus 20 chairs in two lounge areas, TVs, magazines, newspapers, hot and cold drinks, snacks, and a hot meal if required. Patients can expect a warm welcome and a chance to talk about their experiences in hospital, fears of going home or just a chat. Qualified nurses, healthcare assistants and admin staff are all on hand to support you and keep you updated.

We’re happy for relatives and patients to come and see our facilities at any time. You can contact us on extension 4082 from within the hospital (01604 544082 from outside). We discharge around 80 patients each day from the hospital. It is vital for us to ensure there are enough beds each day for patients who need emergency assessment or planned surgery. One way we do this is to discharge patients from the ward before 10 o’clock in the morning when they are medically fit to leave. All patients waiting for transport or collection by a family member or transfer to care homes etc will normally be transferred from a ward to the discharge suite at the Cheyne Walk entrance to the hospital.

Problems or queries If you have queries or are experiencing difficulties relating to your discharge you can either contact your Integrated Discharge Team care manager or speak to the nurse caring for you on the ward. They can also give further information and contact details you may find helpful.

Our hospital team – the Integrated Discharge Team Our team, based in the hospital and comprising health and social care workers, enables a holistic approach to safe, effective and timely patient discharge. Within this team of workers there are therapy representatives, social workers, assessment and enablement workers, intermediate care nurses, complex discharge nurses and discharge coordinators, all of whom help the ward staff to ensure patients are discharged safely to the appropriate destination.

How am I referred to the Integrated Discharge Team? Planning for discharge normally begins at the point, or even before, you are admitted to hospital. The discharge process is coordinated by a member of the nursing team on the ward. Following an initial assessment by nursing and medical staff, you will be referred, with your consent, to the Integrated Discharge Team if you appear to have needs that require assessment for your discharge. You can also give your consent to your carer who can ask for you to be referred to the discharge team. If you have any queries while an inpatient or want any general advice, please ask your nurse to contact the team.

Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA): If you are reading this on behalf of a relative or friend who is a patient with us, and there is a ‘Lasting Power of Attorney’ registered with the Office of the Public Guardian in place for that patient, please ensure that ward staff receive a copy of the document, or are provided with evidence of the LPA for our patient notes. It is important that we have a certified copy of any existing LPA for ‘Person’s Health & Welfare’. Please note that an LPA relating to property and affairs does not give anyone power to make decisions on behalf of the patient in regard to their treatment. However in the event that the patient’s circumstances have changed and they need to be considered for a placement such as a care home or nursing home, if you hold their LPA for property and affairs please confirm this to the nursing team. They will ensure that the discharge team contact you to review the ongoing needs of the patient. Please also note that we cannot act upon any LPA unless we have certified evidence that it exists. We cannot act upon a verbal notification of its existence. Once we receive the copy or other evidence we will ensure that a care plan is put in place agreed with the person(s) holding the LPA. Please also remember that an LPA is not the same as an ‘advanced directive’ unless this has been included in the LPA.

The assessment process by the Integrated Discharge Team A member of the discharge team allocated to your particular ward will contact you. The assessment is not a test. It is simply finding out what help you may need at home that will reduce any risks to your safety or independence. The assessment process will start with discussions with the ward staff, with you and your family/ carers. This process of information gathering and clarification of the situation will enable the social worker/social services officer to work alongside you to: â– identify your needs â– give you information about services that could immediately support you to be discharged from hospital or support you in the longer term. Depending on how complex your needs are, other specialist assessments may also be required.

The referral process and time scales for assessments are outlined in the Delayed Discharge Act 2003. The length of time required to complete the process can vary depending on how complex your needs are. In the Integrated Discharge Team, we aim to do what we can to help people to live independently and safely. We work within resources available to us, and therefore ensure that we prioritise those people who are in greatest need of help. This guide tells you more about assessments and eligibility criteria. It also tells you about what will happen after you have an assessment. This may be relevant to you if you are an older person (65+), have a physical or sensory disability, have mental health problems, or have a learning disability. Please see the information in the following section about our new assessment process.

Discharge from hospital Once all assessments are completed the integrated discharge team member will discuss with you what help may be available, and decide with you how your care needs can best be met.

We now operate a process called Discharge to Assess for those patients who might need support on arriving home from hospital. This involves arranging a support care package to ensure patient safety, with a full assessment being made in the home rather than in hospital. We also use the Discharge to Assess model, for patients who are medically fit to leave hospital, but require discharge to a community bed or other placement or requiring further discharge arrangements. Patients and relatives will be given notice of a discharge date as soon as it is made known to the ward.

Important Information before you leave – self checklist There are a number of important questions that you need to be clear on before you leave hospital. If you cannot answer ‘yes’ to one of the questions below please ask a member of the clinical team on your ward to help you gain the answer.

2. A re you aware of the reason you have been prescribed your medication?

1. Do you feel fully informed of who to contact if

4. D o you feel you have all the information you need before you leave hospital?

you feel unwell when you get home?

3. D o you know of the potential side effects you could face from your medication, and what to do in the event of one occurring?

Getting the most out of your assessment You might want to prepare for your assessment by jotting down anything you want to talk through with the person carrying out the assessment. ■ What are you able to do for yourself or with the support of your family/social network? ■ What kind of help are you having at the moment? OR did you have before coming into hospital? ■ Are some days much easier than others? If so, why do you think this is? We know that there are some things which can be difficult or stressful to talk about, but please don't be embarrassed. We will listen to your

concerns and respect how you are feeling about them. If your first language is not English, or if you use sign language, we can arrange for an interpreter. Please let us know what you need.

More about the assessment The ward will ensure completion of a referral in readiness for your discharge assessment. This referral is completed by all members of the MDT involved in your care. Once the ward has completed your referral, one of our staff may come and visit you on the ward. You can have a friend or relative with you at the assessment if you wish. This assessment may however take place once you have left hospital, as we said above. The assessment is free and will involve discussions about: ■ What are you able to do for yourself or with the support of your family/social network? ■W hat type of help you feel is needed

2. Your health and safety, including any risks to your mental health or wellbeing 3. Your daily routines, such as personal care and domestic chores, and how well you are able to manage them 4. How well you are able to involve yourself in family responsibilities, community life, and work or study. We may want to get information from other people, such as family and - if in hospital, the ward staff and/or doctor etc. We might share some of the information you give us with other people, but only when it is necessary to help to plan your care, on a 'need to know' basis with your consent.

We look at four main areas of life:

On the assessment form we write down everything we discussed and agreed with you during the assessment, and also anything we might have disagreed about. You will get a copy of the completed assessment form to keep.

1. How much control you have over your own life, and how easy or difficult you find it to make decisions about the way you live

Following the assessment, we will give you information about support that may be available, and any charges involved.

■H ow stressful and urgent you feel your situation is.

Assessments and carers If you have a carer, a relative or friend who provides you with unpaid help – we may want to talk to them about what help they are able and willing to give. Carers may also be entitled to support which helps them in their caring role. If you have an identified carer, this would also be an appropriate time for them to receive a carer's assessment from Adult Services. Please ask us for more information on this.

Intermediate care services This is a tier of services which offers both bed-based and community-based services, ie community beds, specialist care centres and the intermediate care team. You may not be able to return home immediately because of practical difficulties or important decisions that need to be made about your future. Unfortunately the hospital is unable to accommodate you during this process, as we need to provide care for other patients in need of urgent treatment. In some cases the daily multidisciplinary team (MDT) meeting may recommend a period of rehabilitation in order to maximise your independence and enable you to live at home as independently as possible. In this case you will be referred to a community bed. An assessor from the community hospital will ensure you fit the criteria if it is for a medical rehabilitation bed. You will be transferred to the first

available bed which may not necessarily be the one closest to home. In the Discharge To Assess process all patients who are unable to go to their permanent place of discharge are transferred to a bed in the community, at centres that have been identified for this process. This will enable all patients who are ready to leave an acute hospital bed to be discharged sooner and therefore reduce the risk of a prolonged length of stay. There are also intermediate beds for reablement in a social setting which are called specialist care centres. These centres provide a period of reablement up to six weeks where medical needs are not required. There are three centres in the county (as at October 2015) and you will be expected to go to the first available bed, wherever that may be. Other beds may be available in the community at a later date.

Intermediate Care Team (ICT) The ICT is a specialist community-based team of qualified nurses, therapists and doctors that provides comprehensive assessment, treatment and rehabilitation to enable you to return home and continue your recovery following your stay in hospital. (You can benefit from this service even if you live in a residential or nursing home.)

for a range of health conditions as well as improving your strength, stamina and confidence with a range of activities that will help you live independently. If you also require social care support, ICT will arrange for the short term and reablement team (START) or the crisis response team (CRT) to provide this for you, alongside your ICT treatment plan.

As your â€˜hospital at homeâ€™, ICT provides high quality, intensive healthcare up to a maximum of two weeks following discharge from hospital, bridging the gap between the hospital team and your GP. In the event that you become unwell following discharge, ICT can access a range of other options to prevent you being re-admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

ICT also has a team of nurses in the accident and emergency department who can assist you to return home quickly. Ask a member of the hospital team to contact ICT for you.

ICT staff will work with you to design a personalised short-term treatment plan for your rehabilitation at home. This may include complex medical treatment

For more information, please ask the NGH ward team for the ICT leaflet, which provides further details on what we are able to provide for you. More information is also available by telephoning 0300 777 0002 (option 1) or online at: www.nhft.nhs.uk/ intermediate-care-team

Avery Care Homes The hospital also use beds contracted from Avery Care Homes for when the patients have completed their acute phase of treatment and until they have their discharge services in place.

These beds are for short stay only, they are not permanent beds for patients and are also not convalescence beds.

Short Term Assessment and Re-ablement Service (START) You may be assessed as benefitting from START for your return home. The START service provides re-enablement for adults aged 18 years and over within their own homes. START helps people who have experienced a sudden change in health to help you regain your confidence and your ability to do things for yourself and to achieve optimum levels of independence, thereby remaining safely at home. The service could be for a few days or a little longer (maximum six weeks) and in most cases is

a free service while we work with you to decide what help you may need in the future. START can help if you need specialist equipment, and they work with you to encourage and support you. If the need for continuing help is identified during this period you will be assessed under Northamptonshire County Council’s Fair Access to Care Services criteria and a financial assessment would be undertaken as there may be a charge for services.

24 hour care homes If it is felt that you can no longer manage at home even with support, the decision may be for you to move to a care home. You and your family will be involved in this decision. The assessment will identify your care needs and will be carried out in the community as part of the Discharge To Assess process. This will help you and your family to select a registered care home which will be able to meet your needs. There are three categories of care homes. ■ Residential care – provides accommodation, meals, care and support throughout the day and night. ■ Nursing care – offers the same as residential care with the addition of 24 hour care by a

qualified nurse. ■D ementia care or EMI (Elderly Mentally Ill) care – which provides specialist extra care for people often due to dementia or other mental health diagnosis. During the care planning process you should be supported to identify a suitable care home which is registered to meet your needs and has a vacancy. As we have already said, this process will take place in a community bed and not in hospital. Your social worker/care manager can help you with this process. However if the home of your choice has no vacancy, you may have to accept a place in an alternative care home until a place in your home of choice is available.

NHS continuing healthcare NHS continuing healthcare, also known as “fully funded NHS care”, is free care outside of hospital that is arranged and funded by the NHS. This means that you will receive care and support to meet your assessed needs at no cost to you. Where can NHS continuing healthcare be provided? NHS continuing healthcare can be provided in a variety of settings outside hospital, such as in your home or in a registered care home. Eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare NHS continuing healthcare is for adults. Children and young people may receive a “continuing care package” if they have needs arising from disability, accident or illness that can’t be met by existing universal or specialist services alone. To be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, you must be assessed by a team of healthcare professionals (a “multidisciplinary team”) as having a “primary health need”. Whether or not someone has a primary health need is assessed by looking at all their care needs and relating them to: ■ what help is needed ■ how complex these needs are ■ how intense or severe these needs can be ■ how unpredictable they are, including any risks to the person’s health if the right care isn’t provided at the right time Your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare depends on your assessed needs, and not on any particular diagnosis or condition. If your needs change then your eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare may change. You should be fully involved in the assessment process and kept informed, and have your views about your needs and support taken into account. Carers and family members should also be consulted where appropriate. A decision about eligibility should usually be made within 28 days of it being decided that the person needs a full assessment for NHS continuing healthcare. If you aren’t eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, you can be referred to your local authority who can discuss with you whether you may be eligible for support from them. If you still have some health

needs then the NHS may still pay for part of the package of support. This is sometimes known as a “joint package” of care. NHS continuing healthcare assessments Clinical commissioning groups, known as CCGs (the NHS organisations that commission local health services), must assess you for NHS continuing healthcare if it seems that you may need it. For most people, there is an initial checklist assessment, which is used to decide if you need a full assessment. However, if you need care urgently – for example, if you’re terminally ill – your assessment may be fast-tracked. Initial assessment for NHS continuing healthcare The initial checklist assessment can be completed by a nurse, doctor, other healthcare professional or social worker. You should be told that you’re being assessed, and be asked for your consent. Depending on the outcome of the checklist, you will either be told that you don’t meet the criteria for a full assessment of NHS continuing healthcare and are therefore not eligible, or you will be referred for a full assessment of eligibility. Being referred for a full assessment doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare. The purpose of the checklist is to enable anyone who might be eligible to have the opportunity for a full assessment. The professional(s) completing the checklist should record written reasons for their decision, and sign and date the checklist. You should be given a copy of the completed checklist. You can download a blank copy of the NHS continuing healthcare checklist from GOV.UK. Full assessments for NHS continuing healthcare are undertaken by a “multidisciplinary team” made up of a minimum of two health or care professionals who are already involved in your care. You should be informed who is co-ordinating the NHS continuing healthcare assessment. The team’s assessment will consider your needs under the following headings: ■ behaviour ■ cognition (understanding) ■ communication ■ psychological/emotional needs

■ mobility ■ nutrition (food and drink) ■ continence ■ skin (including wounds and ulcers) ■ breathing ■ symptom control through drug therapies and medication ■ altered states of consciousness ■ other significant needs These needs are then given a weighting marked “priority”, “severe”, “high”, “moderate”, “low” or “no needs”. The multidisciplinary team will consider: ■ what help is needed ■ how complex these needs are ■ how intense or severe these needs can be ■ how unpredictable they are, including any risks to the person’s health if the right care isn’t provided at the right time If you have at least one priority need, or severe needs in at least two areas, you should be eligible for NHS continuing healthcare. You may also be eligible if you have a severe need in one area plus a number of other needs, or a number of high or moderate needs, depending on their nature, intensity, complexity or unpredictability. In all cases, the overall need, and interactions between needs, will be taken into account, together with evidence from risk assessments, in deciding whether NHS continuing healthcare should be provided. The assessment should take into account your views and the views of any carers you have. You should be given a copy of the decision documents, along with clear reasons for the decision. You can download a blank copy of the NHS continuing healthcare decision support tool. Fast-track assessment for NHS continuing healthcare If someone’s condition is deteriorating quickly and they are nearing the end of their life, they should be considered for the NHS continuing healthcare fast track pathway, so that an appropriate care and support package can be put in place as soon as possible – usually within 48 hours. Care and support planning If you are eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, the next stage is to arrange a care and support package that meets your assessed needs. Depending on your situation, different options

could be suitable, including support in your own home and the option of a personal health budget. If it is agreed that a care home is the best option for you, there could be more than one local care home that is suitable. Your CCG should work collaboratively with you and consider your views when agreeing your care and support package and the setting where it will be provided. However, they can also take other factors into account, such as the cost and value for money of different options. NHS continuing healthcare reviews If you are eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, your needs and support package should normally be reviewed within three months and thereafter at least annually. This review will consider whether your existing care and support package meets your assessed needs. If your needs have changed, the review will also consider whether you are still eligible for NHS continuing healthcare. Refunds for delays in NHS continuing healthcare funding CCGs should normally make a decision about eligibility for NHS continuing healthcare within 28 days of getting a completed checklist or request for a full assessment, unless there are circumstances beyond its control. If the CCG decides that you are eligible, but takes longer than 28 days to decide this and the delay is unjustifiable, they should refund any care costs from the 29th day until the date of their decision. If your CCG decided that you weren’t eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, but then revised this decision after a dispute, it should refund your care costs for the period between their original decision and their revised decision. If you are not eligible for NHS continuing healthcare If you are not eligible for NHS continuing healthcare, but you are assessed as requiring nursing care in a care home (in other words, a care home that is registered to provide nursing care) you will be eligible for NHS-funded nursing care. This means that the NHS will pay a contribution towards the cost of your registered nursing care. This is known as NHS-funding nursing care and is available irrespective of who is funding the rest of the care home fees. NHS England has issued guidance on how people can be compensated following eligibility disputes and delays in receiving NHS continuing healthcare. >> 13

Frequently asked questions about NHS continuing healthcare I have a local authority support package that works well. I am now eligible for NHS continuing healthcare – will my support package change? If you are concerned about changes to your care package because of a move to NHS continuing healthcare, your CCG should talk to you about ways that it can give you as much choice and control as possible. This could include the use of a personal health budget, with one option being a “direct payment for healthcare”. If you’re still not satisfied, you may want to complain. Can someone refuse an assessment for NHS continuing healthcare? If they do refuse, will they be able to get services from their local authority? An assessment for NHS continuing healthcare can’t be carried out without someone’s consent, so it is possible to refuse. However, if they do refuse, although they will still be entitled to an assessment by the local authority there is no guarantee that they will be provided with services. This is because there is a legal limit on the type of services that a local authority can provide. If you refuse to be assessed for NHS continuing healthcare, the CCG should explore your reasons for refusing, and try to address your concerns. If someone lacks the mental capacity to consent to or refuse an assessment, the principles of the Mental Capacity Act will apply and in most circumstances an assessment will be provided in the person’s best interest. My relative is in a care home and has become eligible for NHS continuing healthcare. The CCG says the fees charged by this care home are more than they would usually pay, and has proposed a move to a different care home. I think a move will have a negative effect on my relative. What can we do? If there is evidence that a move is likely to have a significantly detrimental effect on your relative’s health or wellbeing, you should discuss this with the CCG who will take your concerns into account when considering the most appropriate arrangements. If the CCG decides to arrange an alternative placement, they should make efforts to provide a reasonable choice of homes. Is it possible to pay top-up fees for NHS continuing healthcare? No, it is not possible to top up NHS continuing healthcare packages, like you can with local authority care packages. The only way that NHS continuing healthcare packages can be topped up privately is if you pay for additional private services on top of the services you get from the NHS. These private services should be provided by different staff and preferably in a different setting. Content supplied by:

Personalised c If your local authority agrees to pay for some or all of your home care needs, it must offer you choice over how to meet your needs – this is known as personalisation of your care and support. A good assessment of your needs will help you begin to think about the kinds of things you may want to do to meet you care and support needs. Following this, you will be involved in planning out how you would like to meet your needs, and be given a personal budget, and can choose to take a direct payment. Self-directed support through good planning, personal budgets and direct payments is often called “personalised support” or “personalisation”. It gives you choice and control over how your needs are met, and enables you to do the things you value the most. Personal budgets A personal budget is the amount of money the local authority allocates for your care, based on its assessment of your needs. You can be put in charge of this “budget” either by telling the local authority how you would like it spent, or by the council giving you the money so that you can directly pay for your own care (a direct payment). It could also be given to a separate organisation (such as a user-controlled trust) that will spend the money on your care as you see fit, if you prefer. These are commonly known as Individual Service Funds. Additionally, you can choose a combination of the above (for example, a direct payment with some council-arranged care and support), often called a mixed package. Direct payments Direct payments give you the most control over your care, and mean that if you are unhappy with the services you’re getting, you can decide to change who gives you the care services without the process of going through the local authority. However, with this freedom comes the responsibility of accounting for how the budget is spent to ensure it is meeting your needs, and additional responsibilities if you decide to become an employer and hire a personal assistant with your direct payment.

care The Money Advice Service has a guide to using direct payments. What does personalised support mean for me? Personalisation means that you will have to spend some time and effort thinking about your care and support needs, the outcomes you wish to achieve, and how you may want to meet your needs. Depending on the choices you make, there may be some additional responsibilities. For example, if you decide to request a direct payment to cover the cost of homecare, you could use the payment to hire an individual, giving you the responsibilities of an employer. Alternatively, you could hire careworkers through an agency, which removes the legal obligations of being employer, but may potentially add costs and may remove some of the benefits of having the same person provide your care. Read more about how to choose care services. How does personalised care and support work? You and your social worker or care manager will work together to create a care and support plan. This plan details your care and support needs, and will be used to work out the value of your “personal budget”. Your support plan should consider: ■ what’s important to you, including your interests, lifestyle, personal tastes and the people in your life ■ your hopes for the future, such as whether you’d like to study or take on more hobbies outside the home ■ what limitations you currently have and how you want to change ■ what you want to achieve by managing your own support Ensure that you include information about how you’ll manage your money and what you’ll spend the money on (including personal assistants, transport, housing adaptations, therapists and respite services). You will need to clarify how you will manage your money. If you choose to receive your personal budget as a direct payment, the local authority may pay the money straight into a bank account that you control (you must set up a new bank account to do this) or they may give you a prepaid card. Alternatively, you may prefer your personal budget to be managed by the local authority or by someone else, such as: ■ a friend or family member (the local authority must agree to this) ■ a broker, independent social worker or an advocate

■ your care manager or social worker Discuss these options with your social worker or carer and consider which option is best for you. If someone else will be looking after your money, you may need to create a “decision-making agreement”. A decision-making agreement should state how they will look after your money and what decisions they can and can’t make on your behalf. The local authority may want to check what you do with your money, to make sure you’re spending your budget appropriately and that your care and support needs are being met. You may need to keep receipts where possible (especially for large purchases), so that you can show them you’ve spent your money responsibly. If you choose a direct payment, the council will give you a direct payment agreement that will set out the terms and conditions. If you’re struggling to manage your money, the local authority should advise you on how to make your money work best for you. Checking your care plan is meeting your care and support needs You should meet with your local authority at least once a year to discuss whether your care plan is working. This is an opportunity to discuss whether your needs are being met in the best way, and it’s also your chance to talk about changes you want to make for the future. You don’t have to wait for a review meeting to change the way in which you spend your budget. You can change things as you go along. If you want to make a big change, consult your care manager or social worker, who may arrange a review. You can ask for a review meeting about your care plan at any time. To prepare for a review, you should provide any receipts you’ve kept since you were awarded a personal budget. If someone is managing your funds for you, get them to join the review meeting. Disagreements about care plans and personal budgets If you’ve been informed that you’re not eligible for services, or you don’t agree with the amount allocated to you in your personal budget, you can request a reassessment. Speak to your social worker or care manager about being reassessed, or phone your local authority social services department and request a complaints form. Find out how direct payments and personal budgets work. Content supplied by:

What is NHS-funded nursing care? NHS-funded nursing care is care provided by a registered nurse for people who live in a care home. The NHS will pay a flat rate contribution directly to the care home towards the cost of this registered nursing care.

care is paid at the same rate across England. In April 2017, the rate was set at £155.05 a week (standard rate).

Who is eligible for NHS-funded nursing care?

If you moved into a care home before October 1 2007, and you were on the low or medium bands, you would have been transferred to the standard rate from that date.

You may be eligible for NHS-funded nursing care if: ■ y ou are not eligible for NHS continuing healthcare but have been assessed as needing care from a registered nurse ■ y ou live in a care home registered to provide nursing care How will my needs be assessed? You should be assessed for NHS continuing healthcare before a decision is made about whether you are eligible for NHS-funded nursing care. Most people don’t need a separate assessment for NHS-funded nursing care. However, if you do need an assessment or you haven’t already had one, your clinical commissioning group (CCG) can arrange an assessment for you. Outcome of the assessment If you’re eligible for NHS-funded nursing care, the NHS will arrange and fund nursing care provided by registered nurses employed by the care home. Services provided by a registered nurse can include planning, supervising and monitoring nursing and healthcare tasks, as well as direct nursing care. If you’re not eligible for NHS-funded nursing care and you don’t agree with the decision about your eligibility, you can ask your CCG to review the decision. What is the rate of payment for NHSfunded nursing care? NHS-funded nursing

Before October 1 2007, there were three different levels or bands of payment for NHSfunded nursing care – low, medium and high.

If you moved into a care home before October 1 2007, and you were on the high band, NHS-funded nursing care is paid at a higher rate. In April 2017, the higher rate was set at £213.32 a week. You’re entitled to continue on this rate unless: ■ you no longer have nursing needs ■ you no longer live in a care home that provides nursing ■ your nursing needs have reduced and you’re no longer eligible for the high band, when you would change to the standard rate of £155.05 a week, or ■ you become entitled to NHS continuing healthcare instead.

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Paying for your own care and support Many people who use care and support services will pay for all of the costs. This is known as being a “self-funder”. The cost of your care will vary depending on its type, intensity, specialisation, location and duration. For example, a place in a residential care home will cost hundreds of pounds a week. To make decisions that have such major financial implications, you may want to seek independent financial advice and it’s always worth researching the costs of alternatives first. For example, if you are considering a care home place, the cost should be weighed against the cost of care and support that may help you remain in your current home, such as homecare. How much will care cost? If you are thinking about your future care needs or are facing immediate decisions about care options, it can be helpful to get an idea how much care can cost. Inevitably, the price you would pay will depend on your particular circumstances and needs. The costs also vary depending on where you live. Unfortunately, care homes and homecare agencies tend not to provide this information publicly but you may find it helpful to search for and contact care services in your area to get some idea of likely costs. The ‘cap on care costs’ Currently, it is not easy to plan for your future care needs, as it’s hard to estimate how long you will need care for and how your circumstances may change. From April 2020, a “cap” on the costs of meeting your eligible care needs (but not accommodation associated with care or nursing costs) is being introduced. The cap means that, once reached, the local authority will take over paying the cost of their eligible care needs. The cap will not cover your daily living costs. These costs include expenses such as rent, food and utilities and the costs you would face even if you did not have care needs. It is important to note that daily living costs will be a nationally set figure. This figure will be a “notional” amount rather than the actual costs. This is designed to support consistency and enable people to plan. To benefit from the cap once it comes in, you will need to contact your local authority to see if your needs are eligible. If you are seen to have eligible care

needs, the local authority will open a “care account” for you. This account records your progress (the amount of costs you have incurred) towards the cap. The cap does not begin until April 2020 and any costs incurred before this will not count towards the cap. The BBC’s care calculator can estimate how much you may have to pay for care services depending on where you live in England, once the new rules are in place. This will give you an idea of how the cap will work for you, but actual costs will vary to reflect your individual circumstances and needs and how they change over time. For more information on how paying for care is changing from 2020, read about the changes in the Care Act. Ask for help from your local authority It’s worth checking whether you’re eligible for meanstested support from your local authority or other financial support – for example, through a care needs assessment and a financial assessment. Few of us will have the income or ready access to the cash to pay for our ongoing care needs, and you may need to look at selling or remortgaging any property you may own. The new Care Act means more people may be able to benefit from “deferred payments”. Deferred payments can help people avoid being forced to sell their home in a crisis in order to pay for their care by having the council temporarily cover the cost – usually until you sell your property. Following the Care Act, every local authority in England has to make deferred payment agreements available. As an alternative, you may be able to enter an “equity release scheme” with a financial organisation. Equity release can pay for the fees from the value of property you own. However, you should consider which of these options best meets your needs, and what the overall costs to you will be. Before taking such significant financial steps as equity release, you might want to get independent financial advice. You can find information on equity release for care at home from Which? Elderly Care or the Money Advice Service’s equity release information. If you’re planning ahead, you may consider arranging an investment or insurance plan to fund your care. Again, it may be worth taking independent advice on financial arrangements before making major >> 17

changes. Because of the new rules, there are likely to be more financial products emerging that are designed to help people pay for care. You may also want to explore whether the NHS would meet some or all of your care and support costs, or you may have entitlement to benefits that may help you meet costs. Read about other ways of funding care. Advice on paying for care Even if your local authority is not able to help fund your care, it will be able to make an assessment of your care and support needs. From this, the local authority can provide you with access to a range of information and advice available locally. You can also get independent advice from: ■ The Money Advice Service website: offers information on paying for care or the option to speak to an online adviser. You can call the Money Advice Service on 0300 500 5000. ■ The Society of Later Life Advisers: the society can also help you find advice on how to make financial plans for care in your old age. ■ F ind Me Good Care: a website of the Social Care Institute for Excellence. It has advice on all aspects of planning and funding social care. ■A ge UK: has great advice for older people and those planning for their later years. ■C arers UK: an excellent resource of advice for carers who need to help someone else. ■ Which? Elderly Care has a guide to financing care. Deferred payments if you are unable to pay for care services Care home fees are a big financial commitment, and the decision to go into a care home is often made at a moment of crisis or urgency, such as when being discharged from hospital. This can make finding the money to pay for fees (usually several hundred pounds a week) challenging for people funding their own care. In particular, if you own property outright but have little in the way of savings, you may be expected to fund your own care but have little immediately available money to pay for it. Some people going to stay in a care home for a long time find that they have no option but to sell their property to pay the care home fees. Your council may be able to help you if you are at risk of having to sell your home. Where there is a delay in selling the property, or you don’t want to sell the property immediately, you may be eligible to have your care fee payment “deferred”. This is where the local authority helps you to pay your care fees temporarily, and you repay the costs to the local authority at a later date.

If the local authority agrees to the deferred payment and pays the care home fees, it will take payment from the money raised once the property is sold. This can be: ■ during your lifetime if you choose to sell your home ■ once you die, the local authority can be repaid from your estate All councils must offer people the chance to defer payment if they meet a set of eligibility criteria. A deferred payment scheme is only available if you don’t have enough income to cover your care home fees, and you have less in savings than £23,250. In these circumstances, the savings don’t include the value of your property, but does include money in bank accounts. The local authority will put a “legal charge” (similar to a mortgage) on the property and will then pay the remaining care fees in full. You will then be assessed to see whether they are able to pay a weekly charge to the authority. Your ability to pay is based on your income less a set “disposable income allowance” (currently £144 per week). Before considering deferred payments, you should look into whether the property will or won’t be counted in how your capital is calculated. For instance, it may be disregarded because your partner still lives there, and if it is a deferred payment agreement wouldn’t be necessary. It’s wise to get independent financial advice before agreeing to a deferred payment, and it’s worth bearing in mind that choosing deferred payments can impact on some welfare benefits. Protection for self-funders While you may have the savings in place to afford care services, if you lack the capacity to make the arrangements, the local authority can step in to help. The local authority can also help people who lack capacity by negotiating fees with a care provider and paying them directly. The local authority will need to be reimbursed. Anyone entering into a contract for care services should be given adequate information about the fees. Care providers should supply: ■ information about the fees charged for various services provided ■ arrangements for paying the fees ■ the fees charged for any additional services If your capital falls below the set levels for local authority funding (currently £23,250), you will be eligible for reassessment for help with funding your care. Content supplied by:

Care services in your home If you need help around the home, a good option is to have a care worker come in to your home to help you. Types of care and support Care and support comes in many forms and has many names used to describe it, including home help, care attendants and “carers” (not to be confused with unpaid family or friends who care for you). Care and support can suit you if you need: ■ personal care, such as washing or dressing ■ housekeeping or domestic work, such as vacuuming ■ cooking or preparing meals ■ nursing and health care ■ companionship Care and support can be very flexible, in order to meet your needs, and the same person or agency may be able to provide some or all of these options for the duration of your care: ■ long-term 24-hour care ■ short breaks for an unpaid family carer ■ emergency care ■ day care ■ sessions ranging from 15-minute visits to 24-hour assistance and everything in between If you already know what you want, you can search NHS Choices directories for: ■ local care and support services and agencies ■ a list of national care and support organisations ■ services that can help you stay safe and well in your home on a long-term basis; these services, often known as “supported living services”, can include financial, help with medication, advocacy, social and practical support ■ a place to live in a family who will care for you, known as “shared lives services” or adult placement services If you believe that you might benefit from some help at home, the first thing to do is to contact your social services department to ask for an assessment of your care and support needs. To contact social services, go to GOV.UK: find your local authority. If you are eligible for care and support services, the local authority may provide or arrange the help themselves. Alternatively, you can arrange your own care, funded by the local authority, through direct payments or a personal budget.

If you have chosen direct payments or a personal budget, or you aren’t eligible for local authority help and want to get care privately, you can arrange it in several different ways. Independent care and support agencies If you use an independent care and support agency, you or the person you’re looking after has to find the care agency and pay them. The agency will provide a service through a trained team of care workers, which means you may not always have the same person visiting your home, although the agency will do its best to take your choices into account. Independent care and support providers are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). Care and support agencies must meet CQC’s national minimum standards and regulations in areas such as training and record-keeping. The CQC has the power to inspect agencies and enforce standards. Care and support agencies must vet care and support workers before engaging them by taking up references and carrying out Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks on potential employees. Care and support agencies can also: ■ take over the burden of being an employer – for example, payroll, training, disciplinary issues and insurance ■ train their care and support workers through national qualifications and service-specific training ■ replace workers when they are ill, on holiday or resign ■ put things right when they go wrong An agency will want to see you and the person you’re looking after so that they can assess your needs. This also means that a joint decision can be made about the most appropriate type of care and support. You can find out more from the UK Homecare Association. What are the disadvantages of using a care and support agency? The main disadvantage is the cost of using an agency. The agency will charge a fee on top of the payment made to the care worker to cover their running costs and profit. You normally have to make a regular payment to the agency, which includes both the worker’s earnings and the agency’s fee. >> 19

Questions to ask when using a care and support agency The fees some agencies charge can be quite high. Before deciding to go ahead with an agency, you should ask questions about the fee and what it covers, including: ■ Does the agency check references? ■ What training and supervision do they provide? ■ What is their complaints policy? ■ Who will be responsible for insurance? ■ Is there any out-of-hours or emergency contact if needed? ■ Will they be able to provide staff if your own care worker is ill or away? (If an agency contracts to provide care every day, it must ensure that it does.) Hiring a personal assistant You can hire a “personal assistant” to act as a care and support worker for you. Personal assistants can offer you all that you’ll get from an agency worker, but you’ll also get the continuity, familiarity and ongoing relationship with your assistant. However, if you employ a personal assistant, you will then have the legal responsibility of an employer. This will include arranging cover for their illness and holidays. GOV.UK has more information on becoming an employer, while Which? Elderly Care also has advice on employing private individuals. Care and support from charities Charities such as Age UK and Carers Trust can provide home help and domestic assistance services. The Carers Trust supports carers by giving them a break from their caring responsibilities through care and support services. Marie Curie Nurses can provide practical and emotional support for people near the end of their lives in their own homes. Safeguarding vulnerable groups The DBS makes decisions about who is unsuitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults or children. It makes this decision based on information held by various agencies and government departments. The service decides who is unsuitable to work or volunteer with vulnerable adults or children. If someone who is barred from working with children or vulnerable adults is working, volunteering or trying to work or volunteer with these groups, they are breaking the law. They could face a fine and up to five years in prison.

Employers must apply for an enhanced DBS check (formerly known as a CRB check) when taking on new employees or volunteers to work with vulnerable adults or children. This includes a check of the barred lists. If an organisation fails to make the relevant checks, they can be penalised. If an organisation dismisses an employee or volunteer for harming a child or vulnerable adult, they must tell the DBS. The DBS must also be notified if any employee or volunteer harms a child or vulnerable adult, but isn’t dismissed because they leave voluntarily. If their organisation does not tell DBS, they will be acting illegally. Questions can be answered by the DBS call centre on 0870 909 0811, or by email. Employing a care worker on a private basis If you employ a care worker privately, you will not be obliged to use the DBS scheme, but you can use it if you choose to. You need to ask social services or the police to make the checks on your behalf. The care worker must have already applied to be vetted, and must consent to the check. If you have concerns about the suitability of someone you employ privately to work with a vulnerable adult or child, you can ask social services to investigate the matter. They can refer the worker to the ISA on your behalf. Manual handling If you need help to move, or you need someone to lift you (such as getting out of bed or getting on to the toilet), this can put the person doing the lifting at risk of injury. This “manual handling” can result in back pain and in the most serious cases, permanent disability if not done correctly. The law says that employers must take reasonable precautions to ensure their employees don’t do any manual handling that carries a risk of them being injured. This applies to you if you directly employ a personal assistant to care for you (but most likely will not if you hire someone through an agency). It is particularly important to consider insurance in this situation. This would cover any risk of the care worker injuring themselves, as well as any risk of them causing an injury. There are rules around the risk assessments you need to carry out, and the Health and Safety Executive produces advice on safe manual handling.

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The Motability Scheme The Motability scheme allows some disabled people getting DLA, PIP or War Pensioners’ Mobility Supplement to obtain a car, powered wheelchair or scooter. The scheme uses some or all of your mobility benefit payments to cover the cost of “contract hire” or “hire purchase” of an appropriate vehicle. You can also pay an extra amount of money if you want a more expensive vehicle. With hire purchase, the price of the car will be agreed directly with the Motability dealer, and you will own the vehicle outright at the end of the agreement. With contract hire, you won’t own a vehicle, but you will get a new car every three years, full NHS Choices have not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor does NHS Choices endorse any of the products or services. All information and figures correct at the time of going to print.

insurance for the driver and passengers, servicing, maintenance and repairs, vehicle excise duty, replacement tyres and breakdown cover. Adaptations to the car can be made if needed, although there may be an extra charge for some adaptations. Under the Motability scheme, cars can also be adapted for people in wheelchairs. If you don’t need or want a car, you can transfer your allowance to lease a scooter or powered wheelchair. Editorial content for pages 12-21 supplied by:

Contact and Support We are here to answer any questions you may have about the Mobility Scheme. You can contact our Customer Services team directly or one of our Scheme partners depending on the nature on your enquiry. Tel: 0300 456 4566. Opening times: 8am-7pm Monday to Friday, 9am-1pm Saturday. Monday 9am-11am is our busiest period. You may find it easier to call outside these times.

If you have specialist Minicom equipment, call our textphone number on 0300 037 0100 or speak to us through a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter for Deaf customers who have an enquiry about the Motability Scheme.

Other sources of help for when you have left hospital Northamptonshire County Council Adult care services - 0300 126 1000 www.northamptonshire.gov.uk – search for help for adults and older people If you think that you may need help from the council you can ask for advice or a care assessment by contacting Adult Care. To make things easier for you we have set up a first point of contact for all our services called Adult Care. You can speak to an officer who will listen to your enquiry, advise and assist you, and make sure you receive an assessment if required. We can help you with: ■ Social care assessments ■ Safeguarding vulnerable adults ■ Disabled person parking permits (Blue Badge) ■ Adaptations within your home ■ Community alarm scheme - Call Care ■ Occupational therapy assessments ■ Any other aspect of your social care ■ Assistive technology

Age UK Northamptonshire – 01604 611200 Age UK Northamptonshire is an independent charity whose objectives are to make the lives of older people in Northamptonshire as fulfilling and rewarding as possible. Age UK Northamptonshire can help you with a variety of day opportunities that are fun and offer companionship when used as part of a care plan can help older people remain healthy and well. Access to community information about housing, benefits, products and services (home insurance, motor insurance etc) www.ageuk.org.uk/northamptonshire

Northamptonshire Carers – 01933 677837

Northamptonshire Carers aim to offer a comprehensive support service to the unpaid carers of Northamptonshire. We recognise their contribution to society and will endeavour to empower carers in improving their quality of life. Our organisation is carerled and our developments will be a response to carers’ needs. If you are a carer and would like information and advice to help you in your caring role, you can refer yourself to us by completing the on-line enquiry form at: www.northamptonshire-carers.org

Community Occupational Therapy – 01604 366000 By helping you to learn new ways of completing everyday tasks, our friendly Community Occupational Therapy team could help you to do things by yourself again, such as accessing or leaving your house, safely moving around inside your home, climbing the stairs; and getting dressed and washed by yourself. By talking to you, and finding out what you would like help with, our team will identify any adaptations you might need and pass the recommendations to yourself or your local council.

First Stop Care Advice First Stop Advice is an independent, free service offering advice and information for older people, their families and carers about housing and care options in later life. It is led by the charity Elderly Accommodation Counsel (EAC) working in partnership with other national and local organisations. Their service spans housing, care, finance and rights and is delivered through their website, telephone advice line and network of local and specialist partner organisations. www.firststopcareadvice.org.uk

SERVE Serve was formed in 1981 as an information and resource agency providing support for older people in the Rushden area of Northamptonshire. The organisation now covers the wider area of East Northamptonshire and parts of Wellingborough. Serve was initially operated solely by volunteers and is proud of its traditions; it remains fundamentally a voluntary organisation but many of the services are now delivered by trained, paid staff. Serve's range of service provision covers: ■ Community Transport ■ Daily Living Equipment & Mobility Products ■ Day and Homecare ■ Handy person services ■ Hearing Aid Assistance www.serve.org.uk

Physiotherapy Service – Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust at the Highfields Clinical Care Centre, Cliftonville – 03305 556789 Physiotherapists help and treat people of all ages with physical problems caused by illness, accident or ageing. Physiotherapists identify and maximise movement potential through health promotion, preventive healthcare, treatment and rehabilitation. The core skills used by physiotherapists include manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and the application of electro-physical modalities. www.nhft.nhs.uk – search for physiotherapy service. District Nursing Services – contactable via your GP surgery District Nurses are highly qualified nurses that provide clinical nursing interventions to housebound individuals within the patient’s own home eg wound management, people with chronic long term conditions. The community nursing service aims to promote health and avoid acute hospital admissions.

Help us to ensure our services are here to help the next generation of blind and partially sighted people In partnership with Tollers Solicitors we offer a Free Will written free of charge or have an existing Will amended. Available to anyone (18 yrs. & above) living in Northants.

OCTAGON DESIGN & M ARK E TI NG LTD

To advertise in this publication please call the sales team on 01302 714528 Hawks Nest Cottage, Great North Road, Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN10 6AB 01302 714528 | www.octagon.org.uk | info@octagon.org.uk

The Care Quality Commission is here to make sure health and adult social care services including hospitals, home and residential care as well as GPs in England provide people with safe, effective, high-quality care. We publish independent inspection reports and ratings about services – information you can use when you’re choosing care for yourself, or a loved one. You can use our website to search for services you might be interested in by geographical area, or by specialism. For example, a care home that might offer specialist care for someone who has dementia. We also welcome your feedback on the care you have received – good or bad. We use this information to help inform our inspections and can alert authorities including local social services, if there are safeguarding concerns about care being provided. You can visit our website at www.cqc.org.uk to find our inspection reports, or share an experience of care. You can also call us to share an experience of care on 03000 61 61 61. Here are some tips to help you choose your care.

Social care Top tips 1

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) registers all care homes and home care agencies. You can find out which ones support specific groups of people, such as people with a learning disability or those living with dementia. CQC’s Chief Inspector for Adult Social Care, Andrea Sutcliffe always uses ‘The Mum Test’: is a care home safe, caring, effective, responsive to people’s needs and well-led? In other words, is it good enough for my Mum (or anyone else I love and care for)? Look for care homes and home care agencies where the staff involve people who use services and their families and carers, and treat individuals with compassion, kindness, dignity and respect.

Whether you are being cared for in your own home or in a residential setting, the staff looking after you need to be skilled, kind and supportive. They should also be capable and confident in dealing with your particular needs. You should always feel that their support is helping you to live the life you want to. A care home will be a home for you or your loved one. Residents should be treated as individuals with their likes and dislikes taken into account. Think about whether a home is close enough to family, friends, and community facilities. Look at how well-led and managed a home is. What does it have in place to ensure that it delivers high quality care? Does it promote meaningful activity and connect the home with the community?

If you or a loved one needs help with day-today care, you can contact your local council’s social services department. They will ‘make an assessment of your needs’ and depending on circumstances, may be able to help you access financial help. For more advice visit Age UK’s website www.ageuk.org.uk /home-and-care.

If you would like to organise your care yourself, you can find a care worker or personal assistant through an agency. Your local social services department should be able to provide details of approved agencies.

CQC’s ratings will identify services as:

Outstanding Good ● Requires improvement ● Inadequate ● This will help you make informed choices around your care. There’s also useful advice on the Social Care Institute for Excellence’s Find me good care website www.scie.org.uk/findmegoodcare/

Safeguarding adults who receive social care is everybody’s business. If you are concerned about the safety of a loved one receiving care, contact the service provider in the first instance. You can also contact social services at your local council. If you feel a crime has been committed, contact the police. You can share your safeguarding concerns with us on our website or contact our National Customer Services on 03000 616161.

The Care Quality Commission has not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor does the Care Quality Commission endorse any of the products or services.

Assistive Technology – What is it? Assistive technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment or software that is used to increase, maintain, or improve an individual’s ability to perform daily tasks. It is designed to support security and safety, whilst providing a less intrusive living environment. At Olympus Care Services, we tailor our support to you and your individual needs. Our friendly team provide tailored equipment solutions to help you live safely and independently at home. Our Assistive Technology (AT) Team supports individuals with:

■ Helping you learn daily life skills and to overcome mobility challenges. ■ Providing you with walking aids and helping you to apply for a guide dog. ■ Organising registration cards and specialist rehabilitation if you have a visual impairment. For additional support and reassurance around the clock, some of our safety products can also be connected to 24 hour specialist call centres.

Our commitment to you

■ Forgetfulness

Our service continues beyond installation, providing regular maintenance checks. We also review your equipment from time to time, to make sure it continues to provide the most effective solutions for you. If your requirements change in the future, we will discuss how we can best alter our support.

■ Physical frailty and who are prone to falls

Social Care Response

■ Learning disability

Some of the safety equipment we provide can be connected to a specialist call centre designed to offer additional support and reassurance around the clock. When the operator receives an alert from a customer, or their equipment, they will respond by contacting the emergency services, the Social Care Response team or an elected family member.

■ Epilepsy ■ Hearing difficulties ■ Sight impairment

Our team of professionals have and continue to make a huge impact on the lives of hundreds of people by: ■ Helping customers to remain in their own homes, instead of residential care. ■ Enabling customers to quickly contact someone in an emergency. ■ Ensuring visually impaired customer are able to move safely around their home.

The Social Care Response service operate 24 hours a day and will respond to customers support, but it’s not appropriate to call the emergency services.

■ Providing specialist equipment to alert customers with hearing equipment.

The service is charged on a weekly basis according to the number of visits required. Fees are as follows:

■ Providing reassurance to family and friends that a loved one is safe and well.

Make life a little easier Here are some of the ways that we can help: ■ Installing a 24 hour emergency response solution such as a lifeline unit.

No. Yearly Call Outs Up to 3 3-10 10-18 *Prices correct at time of print

Weekly Charge £2.50* £7.50* £12.50* ©Olympus Care Services

■ Installing movement detectors and personal triggers such as the Canary Monitoring system. ■ Installing life-saving smoke and flood detectors to alert you in an emergency. ■ Fitting police and home insurance approved key safes. ■ Installing specialist alerts such as an amplified doorbell for individuals with hearing loss.

Olympus House Billing Brook Road Weston Favell Northampton NN3 8JH Tel: 01604 366 000 www.olympuscareservices.co.uk/shop

Age UK Northamptonshire About Us Age UK Northamptonshire, is a local, independent, voluntary organisation, serving the needs of older people in our county and part of a national family which serves the needs of older people everywhere. We recognise that you want a choice in how you are supported to continue to remain independent in your own home. The following services are designed to offer you support when and where needed to help you remain independent. Our Services Age UK Northamptonshire offers services which are available to older people or their carers throughout the county. Hospital Discharge and Community Team The team exists to provide short-term support to older people living with long-term health conditions. We will also offer support following a stay in hospital, focussing our efforts on helping those who do not have other networks of support.

The team provides a countywide service for anyone who is registered with a GP within the county. Home Care Age UK Northamptonshire provides a Home Care service for older people in Northamptonshire, offering help with domestic tasks. General housework including: internal cleaning of windows, laundry, shopping, changing beds and ironing. The scheme employs domestic care workers who are security checked and supervised by Age UK Northamptonshire. Money Management Support Age UK Northamptonshire offers a Money Management support service to help older people who are struggling with money matters. ■ Cash collections ■ Set up of Direct Debits ■ Signposting to other agencies ■H elp to regain independence with money matters Carers Service Our Carers Service supports people who care for other people who may be relatives, neighbours or friends. The service benefits carers by offering Pictures courtesy of Northamptonshire Chamber

Our aim is to work with people to reduce the likelihood of hospital re-admission and to enable individuals to regain, in part or in full,

independence as far as possible.

support and advice. Carers who register with the service can benefit in a number of ways: ■ Provide a carer to sit with your loved one to enable you to take a break ■ The chance to talk to someone who understands and who will really listen to you, offering support in your caring role ■ Information on matters which may concern you as a carer, for example, benefits and allowances, aids and adaptations ■ Information and advice on what other services and support you could access locally and nationally, including the chance to benefit from the experiences of others and we can signpost you to carers groups across the county. Extra Help at the End of Life Age UK Northamptonshire provides care to people in the last weeks of their life, which enables them to remain at home with their loved ones. This service is only available by referral from your GP surgery or hospital staff. Shopping Our Shopping Service is designed to help older people who find it difficult or impossible to do their own shopping and have nobody else that could do it for them. A number of supermarkets work in partnership with us in Northampton, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough. Handyperson The Handyperson Scheme helps older people to remain independent by assisting with a range of minor household repairs. We can carry out jobs including: Fitting smoke detectors and hand rails, replacing light bulbs, fuses and plugs, small carpentry work, dealing with trip hazards such as loose carpets, moving heavy furniture and levelling paving slabs. Although it is not an emergency service, if the job is urgent we will do all we can to visit as soon as possible.

Wellbeing Centres As time goes on, the interests of new generations of older people change. Our Wellbeing Centres offer a range of activities to people who want to maintain a good quality of life, build new friendships and learn new skills. If you need to get out of the house for the day or just for a few hours, a Wellbeing Centres is available for a cup of tea or a meal, the company of friends and much more. Lifetime Activities Our Lifetime Activities can enable people to maintain a good quality of life, build new friendships and learn new skills. Activities and courses are designed to help people remain fit and active for longer. Volunteering and Fundraising For more information about becoming a volunteer or fundraiser for Age UK Northamptonshire, call 01604 611 200. Advice and Information: To find out more about our services and to learn about how we can help you, call our Service Advice Team on: Call us on 0845 677 2220 Lines are open Monday to Friday 9am–12 noon or visit us at www.ageuk.org.uk/northamptonshire Age UK Northamptonshire 31 Billing Road, Northampton NN1 5DQ Tel: 01604 611 200 www.ageuk.org.uk/northamptonshire Age UK have not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor does Age UK endorse any of the products or services.

Services in Northampton ■F rom diagnosis through to future planning, we have many services which will be invaluable to you ■ Alzheimer’s Society has a host of factsheets, a helpline and an online forum where you can talk to people in a similar situation to yourself ■ These resources can also be useful for carers ■ Support for Carers ■ Peer Support Group ■ Activity Group For information about our services or if you are interested in getting involved by volunteering or fundraising, please contact our local office:

■ Singing for the Brain ■S ide by Side Befriending

Telephone: 01832 736670 Email: northamptonshire@ alzheimers.org.uk

✆ National Dementia Helpline

0300 222 11 22 Our helpline advisors are here for you.

Website: www.alzheimers.org. uk/northamptonshire

Talking Point

Online community

Visit our online community to get advice, share experiences, connect.

NHS Hospitals and services in Northamptonshire 1. Corby Community Hospital Cottingham Road, Corby NN17 2UN Tel: 01536 400070 2. Kettering General Hospital Rothwell Rd, Kettering NN16 8UZ Tel: 01536 492 000

3. St Mary's Hospital 77 London Road, Kettering NN15 7PW Tel: 01536 410141

5. Isebrook Hospital Irthlingborough Road, Wellingborough NN8 1LP Tel: 01933 440099

4. Danetre Hospital London Road, Daventry NN11 4DY Tel: 01327 708800

Kettering General Hospital

6. Northampton General Hospital (Acute) Cliftonville, Northampton NN1 5BD Tel: 01604 634700

Corby Community Hospital

CORBY 1

Sessions House, George Row, Northampton NN1 1DF Tel: 0300 126 1000

EAST NORTHANTS NORTH

WEST KETTERING

KETTERING 2 3

EAST KETTERING

St. Mary's Hospital

DAVENTRY & DISTRICT

WELLINGBOROUGH NORTH

EAST NORTHANTS SOUTH

WELLINGBOROUGH 5

NORTHAMPTON

NORTH EAST

WEST

WELLINGBOROUGH SOUTH

Isebrook Hospital

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

Danetre Hospital London Road, Daventry NN11 4DY Tel: 01327 708800

SOUTH

SOUTH NORTHANTS

Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust

BRACKLEY & DISTRICT

Northampton General Hospital Cliftonville, Northampton NN1 5BD Tel: 01604 634700

Acorn House Acorn Industrial Estate, Islip, Northamptonshire NN14 3FD Tel: 01832 736670

Head Office 31 Billing Road, Northampton NN1 5DQ Tel: 01604 611200

Useful contacts A Action on Elder Abuse 020 8835 9280 We work to protect, and prevent the abuse of, vulnerable older adults Action on Elder Abuse, PO Box 60001, Streatham SW16 9BY I www.elderabuse.org.uk I enquiries@elderabuse.org.uk Admiral Nursing DIRECT 0845 257 9406 This helpline has been set up to provide people with an opportunity to talk through their worries and concerns about themselves, friends or relatives with dementia. The lines are open on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 11am and 9pm. Callers can leave messages any time and request a call back I direct@fordementia.org.uk Age UK Northamptonshire 01604 611200 An independent charity whose objective is to make the lives of older people in Northamptonshire as fulfilling as possible. 31 Billing Road, Northampton NN1 5DQ I www.ageuk.org.uk/northamptonshire Alzheimers Society 01832 736670 Islip Office I 01604 879000 Blisworth Office The UK's leading support and research charity for people with dementia, their families and carers. I www.alzheimers.org.uk/northamptonshire I Northamptonshire@alzheimers.org.uk Arthritis Care 020 7380 6500 Working with and for all people with arthritis to put them in control of their arthritis and their lives. Arthritis Care, Floor 4, Linen Court, 10 East Road, London N1 6AD. I info@arthritiscare.org.uk C CareAware A one stop shop for free advice on care fee funding for older people. I www.careaware.co.uk I enquiries@careaware.co.uk

0161 707 1107

Carers UK 0808 808 7777 Prevents carers from becoming emotionally drained, and from forgetting to take care of themselves. 20 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4LX I General enquiries: 0207 378 4999 I Advice line: 0808 808 7777 www.carersuk.org I info@carersuk.org Centre for Independent Living (CIL) 01604 588501 Supporting Disabled People and Carers across Northamptonshire. Gladstone Road Resource Centre, Gladstone Road, Northampton NN5 7EJ I www.northamptonshirecil.org.uk I information@northamptonshirecil.org.uk Cruse Bereavement Care 0844 477 9400 Cruse Bereavement Care is here to support you after the death of someone close. www.cruse.org.uk I helpline@cruse.org.uk D DIAL (Disability Information Advice Line) 01536 204 742 DIAL Northants provide information and advice to disabled people, their family and professionals on all aspects of living with a disability. DIAL Northants (Corby), Resource Centre, Patrick Road, Corby, Northamptonshire NN17 1XB Disability Benefits Helpline â€“ 0845 712 3456 for Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance I Textphone: 0845 722 4433 I www.direct.gov.uk/en/Dl1/Directories DG_10011169 E Elderly Accommodation Counsel 020 7820 1343 The Counsel's aim is to help older people make informed choices about meeting their housing and care needs. It was founded in 1984 and became registered as a charity in 1985. It is now more commonly known as EAC. I www.eac.org.uk

Care Quality Commission (CQC) 03000 616161 National Correspondence, Citygate, Gallowgate, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4PA I www.cqc.org.uk I enquiries@cqc.org.uk

I Integrated Care Council 01379 678243 (Formerly the National Homecare Council) The Integrated Care Council is a body which brings together British public and independent sector organisations who commission or directly provide support for people living at home.

Carers Trust Offers a comprehensive support service to the unpaid Carers of Northamptonshire. 123 Midland Road, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire NN8 1LU I www.northamptonshire-carers.org I carers@northamptonshire-carers.org

M Mind (National Association 020 8519 2122 for Mental Health) The leading mental health charity in England and Wales. We work to create a better life for everyone with experience of mental distress. www.mind.org.uk I contact@mind.org.uk

01933 677837

N National Osteoporosis Society 0845 450 0230 Advice, information and support group for people with osteoporosis. I www.nos.org.uk NHS 111

Notes

111

Northampton and District 0844 855 2122 Citizens Advice Bureau Town Centre House, 7/8 Mercers Row, Northampton NN1 2QL I www.northamptoncab.org.uk P Parkinson's Disease Society I www.parkinsons.org.uk

0800 800 0303

R Royal Voluntary Service 0845 608 0122 A volunteer organisation that enriches the lives of older people and their families across Britain. We support older people by giving time and practical help to help them get the best from life. Royal Voluntary Service Cardiff Gate, Beck Court, Cardiff Gate Business Park, Cardiff CF23 8RP I www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk S Serve 01933 315555 Serve was formed in 1981 as an information and resource agency providing support for older people in the Rushden area of Northamptonshire, East Northamptonshire and parts of Wellingborough. 19 Church Street, Rushden, Northants NN10 9YU www.serve.org.uk I info@serve.org.uk Stroke Association Advice and information for stroke patients and their families. I www.stroke.org.uk

0845 3033 100

T The Department of Work and Pensions I www.dwp.gov.uk The Pension Service 0845 606 0265 I www.dwp.gov.uk/about-dwp/ customerdelivery/the-pension-service

OCTAGON DE S IG N & M A R K E T I N G LT D

Every possible care has been taken to ensure that the information given in this publication is accurate. Whilst the publisher would be grateful to learn of any errors, it cannot accept any liability over and above the cost of the advertisement for loss there by caused. Octagon Design & Marketing Ltd have not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor does Octagon Design & Marketing Ltd endorse any of the products or services. No reproduction by any method whatsoever of any part of this publication is permitted without prior written consent of the copyright owners. Octagon Design & Marketing Ltd. ÂŠ2018. Hawks Nest Cottage, Great North Road, Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN10 6AB. Tel: 01302 714528

Options Northampton is published by Octagon Design and Marketing Ltd with editorial contributions from Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust, Age UK, Alzheimerâ€™s Society, the CQC and NHS Choices. The editorial contributors have not vetted the advertisers in this publication and accepts no liability for work done or goods supplied by any advertiser. Nor do the editorial contributors endorse any of the products or services.

31 31

K Lodge is situated in Higham Ferrers, an idyllic and historic small town in East Northamptonshire. We provide:

Tel: 01933 315 321 www.klodge.co.uk info@klodge.co.uk

• Residential Care for the elderly • Specialist Dementia Care unit • Respite Care • Garden Villa, our new six bed unit – A unique alternative to Home Care Our Facilities • Fully furnished bedrooms, majority with en-suite facilities

• Expert 24 hour care and assistance

• Three lounges, dining room and chapel

• Prompt health care treatments as required

• Beautifully landscaped, large sensory gardens

• Daily social activities and regular religious services/activities

• Nutritionally balanced meals, snacks and refreshments including special diets

• Six bed unit offering an alternative to Home Care • Security doors and 24 hour CCTV

50 North End, Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire NN10 8JB

Designed & Compiled by Octagon Design and Marketing Ltd., Hawks Nest Cottage, Great North Road, Bawtry, Doncaster, South Yorkshire DN10 6AB Tel: 01302 714528