Adult Carer Support Plan
A Carer is someone who looks after or intends to look after a partner, friend or relative who are unable to cope without support due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction.
Renfrewshire Carers Centre has a dedicated team of Adult Support Workers who will help you get the right information and support. An Adult Support Worker will offer the option of completing an Adult Carer Support Plan which can help Carers get the correct support.
Our Adult Support Team can provide a listening ear for Carers who are struggling emotionally; feeling isolated or are in need of support with their caring role. During office hours, a member of staff will be available by telephone. If you prefer, we would be happy to meet with you at the Carers Centre, by appointment only.
What to expect from an Adult Carer Support Plan
An Adult Carer Support Plan helps Carers to think about what support they may need to help them continue to provide care. It looks at ways that they can be supported to have a life outside of their caring role, set out any needs they have, and how these needs will be met.
Completing an Adult Carer Support Plan Screening Tool helps determine what level Carers reach in Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership’s local eligibility criteria……for support etc. If the level of caring is low to moderate, the Adult Carer Support Plan will be completed by an Adult Carer Support Worker. If the caring role is deemed to be of a more critical and substantial level of care, the Adult Carer Support Plan would then be completed by a member of Renfrewshire’s Health and Social Care Partnership Team.
How do you complete an Adult Carer Support Plan?
Before you meet with your Adult Support Worker to look at a plan, it may help if you think about a typical day helping the person you care for and to make notes of any needs or concerns you may have. Think about what a good and bad day looks like as well as what might help you cope with your caring role.
When you meet an Adult Support Worker you can tell them what is important to you, and what your aims and hopes are. The Adult Support Worker will take notes of your conversation and will agree actions with you that will be written into your Adult Carer Support Plan.
The 2016 Carers (Scotland) Act
In this Act an “adult carer support plan” means a plan prepared by a responsible local authority setting out—
(a)an adult carer's identified personal outcomes,
(b)an adult carer's identified needs (if any), and
(c)the support (if any) to be provided by the responsible local authority to an adult carer to meet those needs.
(2)If a responsible local authority identifies a person as an adult carer, the responsible local authority must offer the person an adult carer support plan.
(3)The responsible local authority must prepare an adult carer support plan in relation to a person if—
(a)the person accepts an offer under subsection (2), or
(b)subsection (4) applies.
In this Act a “young carer statement” means a statement prepared by a responsible authority setting out—
(a)a young carer's identified personal outcomes,
(b)a young carer's identified needs (if any), and
(c)the support (if any) to be provided by the responsible local authority to a young carer to meet those needs.
(2)If a responsible authority identifies a person as a young carer, the responsible authority must offer the person a young carer statement.
(3)The responsible authority must prepare a young carer statement in relation to a person if—
(a)the person accepts an offer under subsection (2), or
(b)subsection (4) applies.
(4)This subsection applies if a person who appears to the responsible authority to be a young carer requests a young carer statement.
(5)Subsection (3) applies whether or not the young carer requires a child's plan in accordance with section 33 of the 2014 Act.
(6)Where the responsible authority, in relation to a young carer, is not the responsible local authority, the responsible authority must not provide the young carer statement to the young carer without the approval of the responsible local authority.
(7)A responsible authority must exercise its functions under this section in a manner which encourages equal opportunities and in particular the observance of the equal opportunity requirements (within the meaning of Section L2 of Part 2 of schedule 5 of the Scotland Act 1998).
Each local authority and relevant health board must jointly prepare a local carer strategy.
(2)A local carer strategy means a document setting out—
(a)plans for identifying relevant carers and obtaining information about the care they provide or intend to provide to cared-for persons in the local authority's area,
(b)an assessment of the demand for support to relevant carers,
(c)the support available to relevant carers in the authority's area from—
(i)the authority,
(ii)the relevant health board,
(iii)such other persons and bodies as the authority and relevant health board consider appropriate,
(d)an assessment of the extent to which demand for support to relevant carers is currently not being met,
(e)plans for supporting relevant carers,
(f)plans for helping relevant carers put arrangements in place for the provision of care to cared-for persons in emergencies,
(g)an assessment of the extent to which plans for supporting relevant carers may reduce any impact of caring on relevant carers' health and wellbeing,
(h)the intended timescales for preparing adult carer support plans and young carer statements,
(i)such other information as the authority and relevant health board consider appropriate.
The responsible local authority must provide the persons mentioned in subsection (2) with the information contained in the adult carer support plan.
(2)Those persons are—
(a)the adult carer to whom the plan relates, and
(b)any other person the adult carer requests.
(3)Subsection (1) does not apply to the extent that the responsible local authority considers that provision of the information would not be appropriate.
(4)The information is to be provided as soon as practicable after—
(a)the plan is prepared, or
(b)in the case of a revised plan, the revised plan is prepared.
A local authority, in determining which support to provide to a carer under section 24(4), must consider in particular whether the support should take the form of or include a break from caring.
(2)The Scottish Ministers may by regulations make provision—
(a)about the form of support that may be provided as a break from caring,
(b)where the regulations provide for a break from caring to take the form of the provision of care for the cared-for person, about the role of the cared-for person in relation to how that care is provided.
(3)Support provided by virtue of subsection (1) may be provided on a regular basis or on a temporary basis and may be provided for varying periods of time.
(4)In providing support by virtue of subsection (1), a local authority must have regard to the desirability of breaks from caring being provided on a planned basis.
(5)Section 19(2) of the Social Care (Self-directed Support) (Scotland) Act 2013 applies in relation to support provided as a break from caring as it applies in relation to any other support.
Each health board must ensure that, before a cared-for person is discharged from hospital, it involves any carer of that person in the discharge.
(2)A health board fulfils the duty in subsection (1) by—
(a)taking such steps as it considers appropriate to—
(i)inform the carer, as soon as reasonably practicable, of the intention to discharge the cared-for person, and
(ii)invite the carer to give views about the discharge of the cared-for person, and
(b)taking account, so far as it is reasonable and practicable to do so, of any views given by the carer in making decisions relating to the discharge of the cared-for person.
(3)This section applies only—
(a)where the health board can identify without delay that a person is the carer of the cared-for person, and
(b)where it appears to the health board that the cared-for person is likely to require care following discharge.
(4)In this section “health board” means—
(a)in the case of the state hospital (within the meaning given by section 102 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978), the State Hospitals Board for Scotland constituted by order under section 2(1)(b) of that Act,
(b)in the case of a hospital mentioned in subsection (5), a health board constituted under section 2(1)(a) of that Act.
(5)The hospitals referred to in subsection (4)(b) are—
(a)a health service hospital (within the meaning given by section 108(1) of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978), or
(b)where a person receives accommodation or services in a hospital other than a health service hospital under arrangements made by a health board, such a hospital.
Each local authority and relevant health board must jointly prepare a local carer strategy.
(2)A local carer strategy means a document setting out—
(a)plans for identifying relevant carers and obtaining information about the care they provide or intend to provide to cared-for persons in the local authority's area,
(b)an assessment of the demand for support to relevant carers,
(c)the support available to relevant carers in the authority's area from—
(i)the authority,
(ii)the relevant health board,
(iii)such other persons and bodies as the authority and relevant health board consider appropriate,
(d)an assessment of the extent to which demand for support to relevant carers is currently not being met,
(e)plans for supporting relevant carers,
(f)plans for helping relevant carers put arrangements in place for the provision of care to cared-for persons in emergencies,
(g)an assessment of the extent to which plans for supporting relevant carers may reduce any impact of caring on relevant carers' health and wellbeing,
(h)the intended timescales for preparing adult carer support plans and young carer statements,
(i)such other information as the authority and relevant health board consider appropriate.
(3)A local carer strategy must contain information relating to the particular needs and circumstances of young carers.
(4)Before preparing a local carer strategy, the local authority and the relevant health board must jointly—
(a)consult such persons and bodies representative of carers as they consider appropriate, and
(b)take such steps as they consider appropriate to involve relevant carers.
(5)In this section “relevant carers” means—
(a)carers who reside in the area of a local authority (whether or not they provide or intend to provide care for cared-for persons in that area), and
(b)carers who do not reside in the authority's area but who provide or intend to provide care to cared-for persons in that area.
(6)In this Part “relevant health board”, in relation to a local authority, means—
(a)if the area of the local authority is the same as that of a health board, that health board,
(b)if the area of the local authority is not the same as that of a health board, the health board within whose area the area of the local authority falls.
