Community Care
Community Care
The Social Inclusion section of the Council's Corporate Plan Strategy states that it will "..improve the level and quality of Community Care Services by promoting better integration and planning of services between the Council, the Health Board, Voluntary and Independent service providers".
Community Care Services cover all age ranges, from babies with special needs to older people in need of support. While some people may need help with their day to day living, others may require help to adjust to specific disabilities.
One of the aims of Community Care is to help those people live as independently as they can in their own homes or in homely facilities in the community.
Service Provision
Community Care Services are available to older people, people with dementia, physical disabilities, mental health problems, sensory impairments, learning difficulties, children with disabilities or a disabling illness, people with HIV/AIDS and people who are terminally ill.
Assessments are undertaken for a wide range of people with differing care needs.
Carers are entitled to an assessment in their own right.
Social Care Services provide many of the Community Care services.
Housing Services, the Health Service, voluntary organisations and charitable organisations also provide community care services. Social Care is responsible for organising care, meeting with people, discussing with them, assessing their needs and arranging the appropriate services for them. Social Care aims to ensure that practical help is available for individuals and their carers.
Specialist social workers, teams and projects provide support to many care groups.
We consult service users and their representatives when preparing and reviewing community care policies.
The first step towards requesting a service is to contact the duty worker at your local Social Care office and ask for an assessment.
The duty worker is available on Tel: 01595 744421
It is also possible with your permission for a relative, friend or Doctor to ask for an assessment on your behalf.
Emergency help is available outside office hours (evenings, weekends and holidays) from the emergency number: 01595 695611
The Next Step
When you contact Social Care, a member of staff will discuss your situation with you and listen to your views on the kind of help you need. Further discussions may then become necessary, for example, with other professionals such as the occupational therapist. Depending on your particular needs and circumstances an assessment will be made. All requests for assistance are dealt with as promptly as possible. The needs of both carer and client are individualy assessed. If more information is required to make that assessment, it may be helpful to contact your family doctor, community nurse, and friends or relatives, subject to your consent. Personal care plans are then drawn up. Every effort is made to include both users and carers at the assessment stage and in the putting together of individual care plans.
After your assessment we will try to arrange the services that are best suited to you. These may be provided by the Council or by other agencies. If we are in a position to help you, your social worker will discuss a care plan with you. You may have a copy of this.
We may also need to contact other agencies, such as Housing Services or NHS Shetland.
If we are unable to offer help, your social worker will explain why, and may be able to suggest alternative sources of support.