What is Fair Access to Care Services (FACs)? " Fair Access to Care Services" is a government policy. It provides a guide to Social Services departments. This helps them decide who can get a service from adult social services through an assessment. Fair Access to Care Services Guidance covers all adult users of social care, including older people.
It says that authorities should assess ‘presenting' needs and decide whether these are ‘eligible' needs, that is, whether they mean the person fits the criteria for getting services. If there are eligible needs, the authority must arrange appropriate and cost effective help.
To decide which needs are eligible, the authority must assess us against an eligibility framework, grading needs as either:
• Critical
• Substantial
• Moderate
• Low
They should assess the risk to the independence of the person being assessed, in each of four areas below equally not just risk in relation to Health & Safety:
• Autonomy and freedom to make choices.
• Health and safety including freedom from harm, abuse and neglect, and taking wider issues of housing and community safety into account.
• The ability to manage personal and other daily routines.
• Involvement in family and wider community life, including leisure, hobbies, unpaid and paid work, learning, and volunteering.
So the assessment should take into account risks to:
• sustaining social support and relationships sustaining family roles and other social responsibilities
• life and health including risk of abuse or neglect
• choice and control over day to day environment
• ability to carry out personal routines
• ability to take part in work, education or learning
A judgement on whether the risk in each area is critical, substantial, moderate or low will be made. Authorities can set a level for meeting eligible needs, taking into account their resources. They should prioritise needs with immediate and/or long term consequences.
The assessment should be rounded, person centred, transparent and non discriminatory. If it is agreed you need assistance then, together with the individual, councils a ‘care plan' should be developed.
The written record of the "care plan", a copy of which should be given to the user, should include as a minimum:
1. A note of the eligible needs and associated risks to independence.
2. The individuals preferred way of getting the support
3. Options to manage emergency situations.
4. Details of services to be provided, and any charges the individual is assessed to pay, or if direct payments have been agreed.
5. Agreed support which "carers" and others are willing and able to make.
6. A review date.
Councils should not have blanket policies to not provide certain services. Councils can have cost limits on packages as a guide, but should not apply these rigidly. In particular, the range of services available to older people should not be substantially different from those available to younger people.
NCIL has growing concerns that the spirit of FACS guidance is not always followed. This can lead to inequality of access to Independent Living in different parts of the country. What is your experience? Let us know!
Help/Advice regarding carers.
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Originally Posted by Nurse-Elsa
