Leaflet: A guide to Adult Social Care and Health
Summary
What we can offer.
May 2024 (IL01)
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Who we are and what we do
Adult Social Care and Health is a department of East Sussex County Council.
We work with people aged 18 and over who live in East Sussex. We help people live healthy and independent lives, whatever that may look like for them.
We look at people's strengths, capabilities, support network, community and difficulties and work with them to find solutions.
Examples of people we work with include those who:
- want to stay living at home but are finding it difficult to cope
- would like to get out and about into their community but, as a result of a health condition or disability, are unable to do so independently
- need information on how to access alternative, more suitable accommodation
- look after someone who couldn’t cope without their help
Safeguarding
If you are being harmed or neglected or worry that you might be, contact Health and Social Care Connect.
You can also contact them about someone else, even if you're not sure. You can call anonymously.
Out-of-hours (emergency) support
If you contact us outside of normal working hours and your situation requires emergency adult social care intervention (before the next working day), Health and Social Care Connect will pass your details to our Emergency Duty Service.
How we can assist you
There are lots of ways we can work with you, and places you can find more information. For example:
- we can direct you to information, advice, and help to access community support
- there may be short-term solutions to prevent you having greater difficulties in the long term
- we may be able to provide equipment or minor changes to your home, to help to keep you safe and independent
- we may arrange an assessment of your care and support needs. This is where we look in more detail at your situation, needs and strengths, to see what might assist you and if you're eligible for our support.
Am I eligible for support?
We use ‘eligibility criteria’ set by the government to see if you qualify for our support. To be eligible you must have care and support needs as a result of a physical impairment, a mental impairment and / or an illness which impact on at least two areas of your daily life and have a significant impact on your wellbeing.
For more information on the eligibility criteria, read our factsheet: Who qualifies for our support?
If your social care needs assessment shows that you have eligible needs, we’ll complete a financial assessment with you, to tell you what you will need to pay. Most people pay some or all of the costs of their care.
Even if you do not have eligible social care needs, we will give you information about your options and recommend support that could help you.
Information and advice
We have lots of information available in different formats, so you can find out what you need in the most suitable way for you.
Online
There’s lots of information available on our website.
You can also:
We also link to our trusted websites and directories of local services, community and voluntary organisations that could support you or get you involved in your community.
Offline
We produce a range of information leaflets and factsheets. You can request a copy of any of these from Health and Social Care Connect in a range of different languages, in easy read format and in large print.
If you’d like to speak to someone you can contact us.
Discussing your options and short-term support
If you’re not sure what help you want or need, we can have an initial conversation with you, usually on the phone. We can listen to your needs, find out what you want to achieve and tell you about possible options, including ways to build on your strengths, and support that might be available to maximise your independence.
For example, we can talk to you about:
- local services
- organisations that can help you improve your health and wellbeing or live more independently
- ways to connect with your community or get support from your wider network
- equipment that could help you
- other support, such as mobility training if you have sight or hearing difficulties, or are deafblind
- your accommodation options
- how to access support with your finances, debt or benefits
These are just some examples. Our conversation and suggestions for support will depend on your needs and what you would like to achieve.
Depending on your needs, you may be invited to an Occupational Therapy Clinic. Advice can be given on managing at home and they may provide equipment and small adaptations to support you. Some equipment and adaptations under £1,000 are free. The clinics can offer advice for carers and undertake a carer’s assessments.
Short-term reablement to maximise your independence
'Reablement' is a short-term service that helps you get back daily living skills that you may have lost because of an accident, illness or disability. This service is limited to two to three weeks’ support, unless there is an urgent need to provide it for longer.
It is often provided when people come home after a stay in hospital and is sometimes referred to as rehabilitation.
It is done in your home, or another residential setting, by several different professionals. They will help you get back your confidence and daily living skills. This may include finding alternative ways of managing everyday tasks like cooking, washing and moving around. They will help you set goals and monitor your progress.
You will not be charged for the agreed period of reablement, but you may be charged for any care and support you need after this. The amount you will pay will be determined by a financial assessment.
See our leaflet: What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support.
Ongoing support
If our initial conversations suggest that you need ongoing social care support, we will complete a more detailed needs assessment. This will help us understand more about you, your daily life, your strengths and your support needs, including if you are eligible for support from us.
To be eligible, you must meet the national eligibility criteria set by the government. This helps us make sure that the limited budget local authorities are given is spent on the people who most need care and support, and that all adults across the country have equal access to support.
For more information you can read our factsheet: Who qualifies for our support?
What will I need to pay?
Unlike NHS healthcare, social care and support is not free and most people pay some or all of the costs of their care. We will assess your finances to see what you’ll need to pay.
If you have more than £23,250 in capital and assets, you’ll be expected to pay for your care yourself. This does not include the value of your property unless you’re moving into a care home.
If you need social care support and have less than £23,250 in capital and assets, we will complete a financial assessment and let you know what you need to contribute towards your care.
For more information, read our leaflet: What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support.
Control over your care
You will be involved at every stage of working out your care and support needs and deciding what support you get. We will tell you what happens next and how long things are expected to take.
For more information, read our factsheet: Assessment, support planning and review.
If you are eligible for support and we are going to contribute toward the cost of your care, one of the ways you can have control is by choosing direct payments. Direct payments are an agreed amount of money that we give you so that you can arrange your own care.
You can use this money to organise and buy the care and support you need. For example, you can employ your own personal assistant to help you with personal care and household tasks. If you want to employ your own personal assistant, we can provide support to help you do this legally and safely.
If you’re paying for your own care and support, we can still help you identify suitable services.
Accommodation and housing options
If you are struggling to manage at home, we can give you information about accommodation and support options. We can arrange for adaptations and support in your own home and advise you on the many organisations that provide housing and accommodation like:
- sheltered housing schemes
- supported accommodation
- supported living
- extra care schemes
- residential care homes
Your eligibility for these types of accommodation will depend on the outcome your needs assessment.
For more information you can contact us.
You can also find more information about paying for residential care in our leaflet: What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support.
More information on housing options
1Space
You can find more information on housing and accommodation options, including local care homes and nursing homes, on our online directory East Sussex 1Space.
Website: 1Space housing and accommodation
Care Quality Commission
You can look up or request information on registered care homes from the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the organisation that regulates health and social care services.
Website: Care Quality Commission
Phone: 03000 616 161
Care Choices
Care Choices Ltd produces directories of care services and includes advice on choosing a care home.
Website: Care Choices
Email: enquiries@carechoices.co.uk
Phone: 0800 389 2077
If you need support to manage your housing
There is support available to help adults aged 16 and over (single people, couples and families) to live independently and find or stay in their own home. This includes:
- services which visit people in their own home
- specialist accommodation services for young people, young parents, people with a mental health condition or a learning disability and homeless people
- people needing refuges
For more information contact us.
If you’re at risk of homelessness
If you or someone you know is homeless or about to become homeless, you should first contact the housing office at your local district or borough council.
Website: Lewes District Council
Phone: 01273 471 600
Website: Eastbourne Borough Council
Phone: 01323 410 000
Website: Hastings Borough Council
Phone: 01424 451 100
Website: Rother District Council
Phone: 01424 787 000
Website: Wealden District Council
Phone: 01323 443 380 or 01323 443 322
If you're not sure which district or borough you are in, use Find your local council | GOV.UK.
If you look after someone else
You are considered a carer if you look after someone who wouldn’t be able to manage everyday life without your help. This could be an adult relative, partner, friend or neighbour.
If you are a carer, you can ask for information, advice and support to help you, and there are local schemes and organisations you can access.
For example, the East Sussex Carers Card allows you to register an emergency plan and offers discounts from shops and services. You can also join local support groups, and access information, advice and training.
Care for the Carers is a local support organisation for carers. If you want to find out more about what is available, or if you’re not sure what you need, contact them:
Website: Care for the Carers
Email: info@cftc.org.uk
Phone: 01323 738 390
Text: 07860 077 300
Carer's assessment
As a carer you may be eligible for support from us. To be eligible, you must meet national eligibility criteria.
To find out if you meet the criteria, you can complete a carer's assessment or contact us.
For more information, read our leaflet: Do you look after someone?
Keeping people safe
Everyone has a right to live a life free from abuse and neglect. Safeguarding adults services work together to help to stop abuse and neglect from happening.
Adults who have care and support needs may find it harder to protect themselves from abuse or neglect. Care and support needs include a person’s age, physical or learning disability, mental health needs or other illness.
Abuse and neglect can come in many different forms, including:
- physical abuse (being hit, slapped, kicked, pinched or misuse of medication)
- domestic abuse (an incident or patterns of controlling, coercive, threatening, violent or abusive behaviour between intimate partners or family members over the age of 16)
- psychological or emotional abuse (being shouted at, ridiculed, bullied, threatened or controlled by intimidation or fear)
- neglect and acts of omission (when medical, physical or emotional needs are ignored)
- financial abuse (stealing or misuse of money or property, scams and being pressured into giving people money or paying for things)
- sexual abuse (sexual activity that someone does not agree to or cannot agree to)
- organisational abuse (neglect and poor professional practice in a care setting such as a hospital, care home, or in a person’s own home)
- self-neglect (when a person cannot or will not care for themselves or allow others to)
- modern slavery (including but not limited to slavery, sexual exploitation, forced labour, domestic servitude)
- discriminatory abuse (occurs when people are harassed, insulted or treated badly because of age, culture, mental health needs, disability, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or belief)
How you can report abuse and neglect
If a crime is in progress, in an emergency or if life is at risk, call 999. To report a crime when it is not an emergency call 101.
If you have a concern about someone else, let the person know that help is available and talk to them about what they want to do.
If you suspect abuse or neglect, call us on 0345 60 80 191 at any time (calls outside of opening hours will be connected to the Emergency Duty Service).
What will happen after I report abuse or neglect?
We will always take any report of abuse or neglect seriously and will ensure the circumstances are looked into fully, in a fair and confidential way.
We will:
- talk with the person who is at risk to find out what they want to happen
- support the person to have an advocate (someone to represent them) if they need one
- talk to the police if a crime may have been committed
- talk to other agencies that need to be involved
- agree the best way of helping, including considering other types of support
Other ways to find information on social care support
The NHS has produced a comprehensive guide to social care.
ESCIS
You can get information on what’s happening in your community, like clubs, societies and events from the East Sussex Community Information Service (ESCIS).
Website: ESCIS
Email: escis@eastsussex.gov.uk
Phone: 01273 481 754
1Space
You can also visit East Sussex 1Space, our online directory of care, support and wellbeing services.
Living a healthy lifestyle
Living a healthy lifestyle is important for everyone. Whether you have a long-term condition or not, making changes to your lifestyle like stopping smoking and achieving a healthier weight can have a positive impact on your life.
To find out more about making changes to your lifestyle, visit One You East Sussex:
Website: One You East Sussex
Phone: 01323 404 600
Our leaflets and factsheets
We offer a wide range of leaflets and factsheets.
Our leaflets
- What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support
- Your feedback matters
- Do you look after someone?
Our factsheets
We also have a range of factsheets on topics like:
- assessment
- support planning and review
- financial assessment and paying for care
- safeguarding
- mental capacity
- managing someone’s affairs
See our leaflets and factsheets page.
You can get all of our leaflets and factsheets in a format to suit you. Please ask us if you would like this information in a different format or language.
Make a complaint or give feedback about your experience of social care
We want to provide high quality services for everyone in East Sussex, so it’s always helpful when you tell us what you think, whether it's good or bad.
If you want to compliment a member of staff or service, you can contact the team directly.
If you want to make a complaint, a good start is to contact the person or team who are involved in the situation you want to complain about. They will try to sort things out quickly.
If you would rather speak to someone else, contact our Complaints and Feedback Team to give us any feedback, including suggestions or compliments.
See our Complaints and Feedback page for more details.
If you want someone to make a complaint on your behalf,
please also read our factsheet ‘Independent advocacy – someone to speak up for you’.
Healthwatch East Sussex
Healthwatch East Sussex is your local consumer champion for health and social care. For information about Healthwatch East Sussex and / or to leave feedback about your experiences of services:
Website: Healthwatch East Sussex
Phone: 0333 101 4007
Getting involved
If you would like to be involved in shaping our services, we are always looking for new members to join the People Bank. The People Bank is a database of volunteers who have an interest in our services. Membership is voluntary and there are many
ways you can be involved.
Once you have joined, the People Bank team will match you with potential opportunities. For more information:
Email: Adult Social Care Consultation Team
Phone: 01273 481 565
