Who Are Caremark Thanet?

Who Are We?

We are a domiciliary care provider serving the Isle of Thanet. We have been providing home care services to the residents of Thanet since 2012. In that short time we have developed a reputation for the outstanding quality of the services we provide.

There are two of us at the head of the company: Jayne Costain is the Director of Care and Registered Care Manager. My name is Garry Costain and I'm the Managing Director. Jayne has gained a wealth of experience in health care from working as a nurse for over fifteen years. My background lies in education and management.

Our offices are on the Westwood Industrial Estate in Margate. We offer care and support services throughout Thanet, including: Acol, Birchington, Broadstairs and St Peters, Cliffsend, Manston, Margate, Westgate on Sea, Minster, Monkton, Ramsgate and St Nicholas-at-Wade.

Our Philosophy

Our aim is to provide outstanding domiciliary care to each of our customers. On that we will never compromise. To achieve our aim we believe that our starting point is to recognize that:

1.     Our customers are entitled to expect us to fit our services to their needs; we are never entitled to expect our customers to fit their needs to our services.

2.     It is our duty to do all we can to help our customers remain independent and living in their homes for as long as they wish.

3.     Upholding the dignity, supporting the independence and promoting the safety of each of our customers are paramount.

4.     Without our customers our services would not be required.

5.     We are only as good as the services provided to our customers by our care and support workers. For that reason, we have a right to be very selective in the people we choose to provide those services.

6.     The people who provide our services to our customers are the most important people in our company.

To find out more about us visit our:

Website: www.caremark.co.uk/thanet

Blog: http://thanetcare.blogspot.co.uk/

and Facebook page:  facebook.com/caremarkthanet

Understanding Care Services: NHS Continuing Health Care

What Is NHS Continuing Health Care?

In England, NHS Continuing Health Care (NHSCHC) is care funded by the NHS. It is available for people aged 18 and above and is provided to meet physical or mental health care needs that have arisen through disability, accident or illness. NHSCHC is care that takes place away from a hospital. Care can be provided in your home or in residential accommodation.

Who Qualifies for NHS Continuing Health Care?

You will qualify for NHSCHC if you are assessed as having a primary health need. The NHS Choices website provides a very unhelpful circular definition of this. A primary health need, it is explained, is one that is on-going and substantial and is related to your health. An assessment will take into account the nature and complexity of your needs; the intensity and severity of your needs, and the unpredictability of your needs.

How Do You Get NHS Continuing Health Care?

In short, you need to be assessed. The assessment is carried out by a multidisciplinary NHS team. There is no right to an assessment, but if it seems that you might need NHSCHC then the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) for your area must carry out an assessment.

The fact that you have a long term medical condition is not, of itself, a qualification for NHSCHC. However, the following circumstances are likely to suggest that an assessment is appropriate. 1. Where  you are due to be discharged from hospital and you have long term needs, 2 Where a period of intermediate care has come to an end, 3. Where your health declines significantly, 4. Where you are approaching the end of your life, 5. Where you reside in a nursing home and your health care needs are under review and 6. Where your health and social care needs are being assessed as part of a community care assessment.

In most circumstances, there is a two stage assessment process. The first stage is an initial assessment. The purpose of this is to decide if you need a full assessment. The initial assessment may be completed by a doctor, social worker or other health care professional.

The full assessment is carried out by two or more health and/or care professionals. The assessment looks at the following criteria: 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.

Each of those criteria (or domains) is assessed on the following scale: no needs, low needs, moderate needs, high needs, severe needs or priority needs. The criteria in bold are assessed, on the full scale, from low through to priority. The criteria in italics are assessed from low to severe. The remainder are assessed from low through to high.

You will be eligible for NHSCHC if one or more criteria are assessed at the priority level or two or more criteria are assessed as severe. You may also be eligible if one criteria is assessed as severe and you have needs assessed in a number or other criteria or a number of criteria are assessed as high and/or moderate.

A two stage assessment is obviously a little time consuming. It can take 28 days from the initial assessment to determine you eligibility by way of a full assessment. Clearly in some cases this is far too slow. There is, therefore, a fast track procedure that can be used where your condition is worsening and/or you are terminally ill.

What Is the Cost of NHS Continuing Health Care?

There is no cost to you if you qualify for NHSCHC.

Who Provides NHS Continuing Health Care Services?

NHSCHC services can be provided by any number of health professionals including physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists and domiciliary carers. When you are assessed as being eligible for NHSCHC, you will be allocated a personal health budget. This is an amount of money that is used to support the needs that you have. It is similar to the personal budgets allocated by social services to support social care needs.

Just as with a social care personal budget, you can ask for your personal health budget to be paid to you in the form of a direct payment. A direct payment puts you in control of choosing who supplies your services. You don’t have to do this. You may, however, enjoy the freedom and choice that direct payments give you. You can find out more about personal health budgets and direct payments on this page.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

Eight Things You Should Know about Community Care Assessments from Kent County Council

Introduction

In order to get financial help from Kent social services for your home care needs there are two assessments that social services must undertake.  

To take these in reverse order; the second assessment that is carried out is a means test. This determines whether you are entitled to have your home care provision paid for in full by social services; partly paid for by social services or not paid for at all by social services –  in this last case, in other words you have to pay for it yourself. There is, though, an assessment that comes before this.

The first assessment is one of your care needs. This is known as a community care assessment. You may also hear it referred to as a care needs assessment. This article deals with the community care assessment only.  

The information that follows applies specifically to adults. It is also aimed at people looking for domiciliary care (home care) although much of what is said applies to people seeking residential care.

Here are eight things you should know about community care assessments from Kent social services. 

1. Kent County Council (KCC) has a statutory duty to carry out community care assessments. 

Local authorities, like Kent County Council, often have statutory duties placed upon them. What this means is that there exists a law that has been passed by Parliament – a law contained in an Act of Parliament, also known as a statute – that places the local authority under an obligation to do something. When such a duty exists, it is something that a local authority cannot fail to do. Such is the case with community care assessments. Local authorities, like KCC, therefore, are under a duty imposed by law to carry out community care assessments.  

2. The Duty to carry out community care assessments is interpreted in such a way that means that in practice it is highly improbable that KCC can refuse to carry out an assessment of your care needs.

The law imposing the duty says that if it appears that you may need community care services that your local authority may be able to provide then your local authority has a duty to carry out an assessment of your care needs.  

Even in circumstances where the KCC believes that you have little chance of qualifying for community care services: it must still conduct the assessment. Even in circumstances where KCC believes that you will not qualify financially for social services help: it must still conduct the assessment.

If you are disabled Kent County Council has an additional duty imposed upon it by law to carry out an assessment. 

3. If you are a carer who looks after someone (your wife, husband, relative or friend), you are also entitled to have a community care assessment. 

If you look after someone, you can request a community care assessment when the person you care for is being assessed. You are entitled to an assessment even if the person you care for decides not to have an assessment of his or her needs undertaken. 

4. To get a community care assessment your first step is to make a referral to Kent social services. 

You can do this yourself. Alternatively, a relative, friend or carer can do this on your behalf. You can also be referred by your GP or another health or social care worker. To contact Kent Social Services you can telephone: 03000 41 61 61 (text relay 18001 03000 41 61 61) or email social.services@kent.gov.uk.  You can also drop into a Gateway Plus Centre. There are several of these in Kent and you can find their locations by following this link. 

5. To get an assessment takes about 28 days from the day of referral.  

Although local authorities have a duty to conduct community care assessments, there is no duty placed on them that dictates how quickly they must deal with referrals. There are guidelines; however, and the guidelines state that referrals must be processed within 48 hours and the whole procedure completed within 28 days. Kent County Council says that in most cases it completes assessments within a month. In an emergency, a local authority can put in place temporary care services.

6. Assessments usually take place in your home.

If you are seeking home care this is the best location for an assessment to take place. It is possible for alternative locations, like a GPs’ surgery, to be used. If you are a little unsure about explaining your needs to someone, you might like to have someone with you at your assessment. This person will sometimes be referred to as your advocate, that is, someone who speaks on your behalf. 

It is also possible for assessments to be done by telephone. This may be fine for simple assessments but it is not advisable if you have more complex care needs. Telephone assessments are controversial because they can be used as a means of screening out people before the formal assessment is conducted.  

You may also be asked to carry out a self-assessment of your care needs. This may help you focus your mind on what your needs are but in no way should it be used as a substitute for a formal community care assessment.

7. Your care needs will be assessed as falling into one of four categories. 

The community care assessments measures the risk to your independence and well-being if nothing more is done – in other words what is the risk to your independence and well-being if no care is provided. 

The four categories are referred to as eligibility criteria and they are called: critical, substantial, moderate and low.These criteria are a measure of how serious your needs are. 

In the first, and most serious, category your needs are judged to be critical. If your needs fall into this category then your life may be at risk, and/or you have significant health problems, and/or you are at risk of serious abuse or neglect if nothing else is done. 

In the second category your needs are deemed to be substantial, which means that if nothing more is done you will havelimited choice and control over your living environment and/or you will be at risk of abuse or neglect. You will not be able to carry out most of your personal care or domestic tasks. 

The third, moderate category, without more being done you are not able to carry out several tasks relating to your personal care or domestic tasks. You are not able to maintain a lot of contact with society or take an active part in family life. 

In the final, low category, will not able to carry out one or two tasks relating to your personal care or domestic tasks without more being done. 

Many local authorities will provide funding for care only where your needs fall into one of the first two categories. Kent County Council provides funding for care falling into the first three categories. 

If you qualify for funding you are said to have an eligible need or eligible needs. However, even though you have an eligible need you will still need to qualify on a means test. 

8. If you are assessed as not having eligible needs, or you feel the assessment of your needs is inadequate, you can appeal. 

You must ask for the decision in writing. You need to know the reason why you have been assessed as you have. Make sure that you are aware of the local authority’s complaints procedure. Kent County council has a complaints team at: Brenchley House, 123-135 Week Street, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1RF.  Telephone:  03000 410 410 or:  Brook House, Reeves Way, John Wilson Business Park, Whitstable, Kent CT5 3SS.  Telephone : 03000 410 410. Alternatively you can email them at: complaintsteamadults@kent.gov.uk.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 23591001843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.

How to Get Financial Help for Home Care from Kent Social Services

What this Article Is About

The purpose of this article is to guide you through the procedure for gaining support from Kent Social Services for your home care needs. This applies to adults only. 

To qualify to have your home care paid for fully or in part by Kent Social Services you have to have two assessments. The first one assesses your care needs and is called a community care assessment.

The second assessment is a financial assessment that decides if you are entitled to have your home care paid for fully or in part by Social services.

Community Care Assessment

To receive funding from Social Services, the first step is to have your care needs assessed. This is called a community care assessment.  

The assessment can be done face to face or by telephone. You explain what your care needs are and Social Services use this information to decide if you are eligible for Social Services support. To arrange an assessment you need to contact Kent Social services on the following number:

03000 41 61 61 (text relay 18001 03000 41 61 61) or email social.services@kent.gov.uk.

Your needs are assessed as falling into one of four bands.

1. Critical

2. Substantial

3. Moderate

4. Low

You only qualify for Social Services support if your needs fall into one of the first three bands. If your needs are assessed as low you do not qualify for Social Services Support.

If your care needs fall into one of the first three bands, Social Services will then work out how much this will cost. This is called your actual personal budget. This is not necessarily how much you will get from Social Services. How much you get depends upon your financial circumstances.

Financial Assessment

This is a type of means test. First of all, you will be asked how much you have in savings. This does not include your home. If you have more than £23 250 you will be asked to pay for your care in full. 

If you have less than £23 250 in savings, Social Services then assess the amount of income that you receive each week. Income includes your pension and benefits. If your income is over a certain amount, you will be asked to contribute to the cost of your care. 

Everyone’s circumstances are different. However, for everyone there is a protected income level of £185.44 (in 2014-15) per week. There are various allowances that increase the amount that Social Services cannot make you use to pay for your care. Certainly if your income is below £185.44 you will not pay at all. For more information, you can take a look at this booklet. 

If you have savings between £14 250 and £23 250, Social Services assume that part of this makes up your income. For every £500 that you have above £14 250, Social Services will add £1 to you income.  

For example, if you have £16 250 in savings (that’s £2000 above £14 250), Social Services will add £4 per week to your income. So, if your income is £200 per week, the extra added on because of your savings makes your income £204 per week. 

The amount of money that you have left after Social Services have deducted all your allowances is called your available income. It is the money that Social Services assess you as having available to contribute to your care each week. Available income is your actual income less your protected income plus other allowances. 

An Example

Let’s say that you the following figures apply to you: 

Income: £250 per week

Protected income plus other allowances: £225

Therefore, your available income is £25 per week (£250 - £225) 

This means that Social Services will say that you can contribute £25 per week to your care costs. 

Now let’s assume that your actual personal budget is £150 per week. Remember that your actual personal budget is how much your care is going to cost based on how it has been assessed by social services. 

To meet this figure of £150 per week, you will have to pay £25 per week and Social Services will pay £125 per week. 

Direct Payments

Once you are receiving financial help from Social Services, make sure that you asked to receive you money by direct payments. Social Services should inform you of your right to direct payments.  

Social services can arrange everything for you. However, if you want to take control over who provides your home care you need to request to receive direct payments. If you receive direct payments it means that you are given a sum of money that allows you to purchase your care from whichever company you choose. And the importance of this cannot be overstated.  For more information about direct payments; go to this page. 

Direct payments work in a very straightforward way. KCC pay an amount of money into your bank account or onto a Kent Card. The Kent Card is a Visa debit card and you can find out more details here. You then use this money to buy your care from a provider of your choice. 

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.