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Under
the Carers Recognition and Services Act 1995, carers are entitled
to an assessment of their needs in their own right when the
local authority (in our case, Fife Council) is making a Community
Care Assessment. In September 2002, the Community Care and
Health (Scotland) Act 2002 came into force and gave carers
the right to ask for an assessment of their own needs at any
time. This means that if you are giving a regular and substantial
amount of care to someone who could not manage in the community
without that care you are entitled to have a separate assessment
of your needs.
How
do you go about getting a Carers Assessment? If the person
that you are caring for has a social worker already you can
simply ask that worker to give you a Carers Assessment. There
is a Carers Assessment form, which has been designed by carers,
which you can fill in with the social worker or with the help
of someone else that you feel comfortable with or simply by
yourself. The staff at the Fife Carers Centre would also be
happy to help you with the form.
The
assessment form will look at the kinds of things that you
do for the person that you care for and the difficulties you
might have in trying to balance all the different demands
on you. The form is then taken by the social worker, who uses
it to make sure that you are getting the help that you need
to support you in your caring role.
If
the person whom you care for does not have a social worker,
you can contact your local social work office and ask a member
of the Enquiry and Information team or the Community Care
team for an assessment. You can also contact the Fife Carers
Centre for a form that we would then pass on to social work
as a referral.
Where
an assessment leads to an agreed care plan, this will be reviewed
after six months. This is a very valuable way of making sure
that the pressures that people experience in their caring
role are taken into account. It is also a way to make sure
that we keep track of the things that are still needed to
help support carers.
A
separate form has been designed for young carers as it is
recognised that young carers have different needs.
If
you have any questions about a Carers Assessment or need help
with it in any way please get in touch with us here at the
Fife Carers Centre.
Forms
can be downloaded from the Fife Direct Website at www.fifedirect.org.uk
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