Introduction
Care management and assessment constitutes the core business of arranging care, which underpins all other elements of community care. This practice guidance is, therefore, relevant to a large number of practitioners and their managers in partnership areas, whether within the local authority, health service, independent sector or care agency.
Care management and assessment are "the cornerstone of high quality care" in the words of the White Paper Caring for People. The policy direction in 1991 set out the guiding principles and the updated Guidance on Care Management August 2004 reinforced the need for the refocusing and targeted approach.
There are two documents:
- Practitioner's Guide setting out good practice.
- Manager's Guide providing the training manual to support implementation.
(1) The scope and purpose of this guidance
Policy guidance describes what partnership areas need to do and this practice guidance, along with the training manual will support the implementation arrangements.
The practice guidance documents should be read in conjunction with Modernising Community Care - An Action Plan (1998) and the White Paper Caring for People. The relevant circular is the Guidance on Care Management in Community Care CCD8/2004.
The original documents were updated in the light of experience and reflects current developments. Partnership areas have been able to build and 'to encourage the success stories in an area to become the commonplace of achievement everywhere else'. (Sir Roy Griffiths.)
However, it is acknowledged that practice is developing and evolving in local partnership areas, in line with their implementation arrangements for Joint Future.
The practitioner's guidance provides a set of principles which all practitioners can own as a common baseline for negotiating local arrangements. The guidance is prescriptive about the process of care management, but not about the ways of implementing the process. The partnership areas have been exploring the issues and options with the implementation of the shared assessment framework, which care management builds on.
Change will be:
- evolutionary in nature
- built on existing strengths
- suited to local circumstances
- agreed by all relevant agencies
- supported by training.
This guidance applies to community care, therefore the care of adults aged over 18 years although the principles and processes could apply to children's services and in particular young people in transition.
(2) Practitioner's Guide
The Practitioner's Guide explains what is meant by care management and the core tasks. There has to be a shared understanding of the term "need" with the development of the "needs-led" approach. The changes in practice, attitudes and developing approaches to integrated working arrangements are evidenced in the better outcomes for service users and their carers.
The Manager's Guide focuses on the need for joint training to support the implementation arrangements, building on the investment in the Shared Assessment Framework.
Local managers will detail the timetable for implementation and other organisational requirements to support practitioners and managers at the front line.
(3) This Guide
This guide is developed to support practitioners and their managers, complemented by the training plans at a partnership level.
The guide focuses on the core tasks required to arrange care and support the person in need.
1. publish information
2. determining the level of assessment
3. assessing need
4. care planning
5. implementing the care plan
6. Monitoring
7. reviewing
The guidance reinforces the good practice which exists and underpins the arrangements for assessing and managing care with partnership areas.
The organisational issues with the implementation process and the training manual support the overall process.
The Care Commission are particularly keen to highlight the role of the Care Commission in the Practitioner and Manager's guides due to the increasing number of Care Managers who are employed by Health Bodies or who have a professional background outside social work, and therefore are less likely to have prior knowledge of care regulation and what it means. The website details are included in the reference list.