Who can get support?
Social care aims to help vulnerable adults of all ages to be as
independent, active and safe as possible. People may be vulnerable
for a number of reasons. For some people, getting older means
you can’t do as much as you once could; others may need help to
cope because of a learning or physical disability, mental health
needs, long-term illness, or problems with drugs or alcohol.
Can anyone get support?
Some types of support are open to everyone,
whilst others have certain criteria people have to meet. Everyone
in Tower Hamlets can get information and advice from adult social
care. Some of the support that we provide or fund has basic
requirements in order for people to use them. For example,
there might be certain activities aimed at people who are over the
age of 50. There are others that are aimed at people who are
experiencing specific difficulties, such as problems with
maintaining a tenancy.
Tower Hamlets has a legal duty to provide
support to people who meet our “Fair Access to Care”
criteria. FACS is national criteria used by councils to make
sure that everyone who needs care can get the right level of
support. Council staff who carry out a social care assessment
use this criteria. They base the assessment on levels of need
and the risks you will face if support is not provided. Your
needs and risks will be assessed as being:
- Very high (critical)
- High (substantial)
- Medium (moderate)
- Low (low)
Tower Hamlets council currently provides longer-term
support to people whose needs and risk are high (substantial) or
very high (critical).
For example, your need is critical or
substantial when your life is, or will be, threatened without our
support, or you have developed or will develop significant health
problems, or you have been or might be abused or
neglected. This is not a complete list. Your needs will
be considered on an individual basis.
If you reach that level or are likely to reach
that level soon, you will have some services arranged for you. We
will not normally provide long term care in the home that costs the
council more than it would cost to meet the same needs by providing
residential care. We will give priority to the highest levels of
risk.
If you do not reach the 'substantial' level
but still wish to have services, you will need to arrange your own
care. Wherever possible a member of council staff will offer
information about organisations that may be able to help or advise
you.
Get in touch to find out if you
can receive help
What to do if you’re unhappy with our
decision
If you do not agree with the decision, you should in the first
instance discuss the matter with the member of staff. If you are
still not happy you can ask their manager to review the
decision.
If you have a complaint about the way your assessment was
conducted you can contact the complaints officer by sending a
letter for free to:
The Complaints Officer
Adults Health and Wellbeing Directorate
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Freepost Plus RRBZ-UCYT-ZLRX
Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London
E14 2BG
Show map
Or you can call for free on: 0800 374 176
It is important to realise that the complaints
procedure can only be used if you do not believe your assessment
was carried out properly. It cannot be used to change the council’s
assessment of your needs.