Devon's Eligibility Criteria for Adult Care Services

3. Procedural Guidance

Principles of Assessment

Decision making about eligibility for services is under pinned by the assessment and review process. The principles of, and standards for, assessments are set out in the following national documents:

• National Service Frameworks for mental health and older people.
• The White Paper Valuing Diversity.
• General Principles for Assessment within the FACS Guidance.
• Single Assessment Process guidance.
• Carer and Disabled Children Act 2000 – Practice Guidance. (354KB - pdf help)

Within Devon the guidance concerning the different types of assessment, together with the practice principles underpinning assessment, is set out in the following documents:

• The Differentiated Approach to Care Management Policy and Practice Guidance (202KB - pdf help).
• The Care Programme Approach Policy and Guidance.
• The Carer Practice Guidance.

The fundamental principle underpinning these policy documents is that people are experts about their own situation. Therefore assessments should ensure the needs, wishes and views of the individual and that of their carer are taken into account in the decision making process.

Prevention

Prevention, promotion of independence and recovery are key themes in national documents for all adult service user and carer groups, including The National Service Framework (NSF) for Mental Health (1999), the NSF for Older People (2001), the White Paper Valuing People (2001) and the Carers and Disabled Children Act (2000).

Prevention is defined as:

‘...action intended to prevent or delay loss of independence and to improve quality of life’. ref. LAC (99) 14.

All preventive approaches should encourage self determination, choice and dignity including economic participation for those of working age.

Preventive services should be targeted:

• To provide people with accessible and timely information and advice so that they can find solutions to their own problems wherever appropriate.
• To assist people to regain their independence so that they can undertake as many tasks for themselves without intervention from social services.
• To maintain people from deteriorating to high levels of dependency and continue to live in their own homes.
• To improve people’s quality of life by increasing their independence and reduce social isolation.
• To diminish the risks of avoidable injuries.

Needs and Eligible Needs

This guidance defines the term 'need' in its every day sense. This term is referred to as 'presenting needs'. Needs may be intermittent or continuous in nature.

The term ‘eligible need’ has a specific meaning and is defined as:

"...needs that the council will meet as they are assessed as falling inside the Council’s eligibility criteria that are set according to the council’s resources." (ref.Fair Access to Care: Guidance on Eligibility Criteria for Adult Social Care - Department of Health)

If a person’s assessed needs fall within the council’s Eligibility Criteria, it becomes an ‘eligible need’ that the council should meet.

The distinction between need / presenting needs on the one hand and eligible needs on the other should be taken into account when assessment information is being evaluated and summarised and care plans are drawn up.

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