Hi everyone,
'Duty of care' is a subject that appears quite often on Talking Point. Tina, one of our Knowledge Officers, offered to address some questions around this topic. I hope the below is helpful, and a huge thank you to Tina for offering her expertise to help Talking Point members.
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The idea that the local authority (LA) adult social services have a ‘duty of care’ is not incorrect. In fact both the NHS and local authority (LA) ‘owe a common law duty of care to the people within their care’ but it may help to update and fine tune our understanding a little.
The Care Act in England clearly states that the LA has a duty to assess if someone appears to have needs and a duty to meet those needs if they are ‘eligible’, as laid out in the Act. So once someone is identified as having eligible needs they are in the LA’s care and the LA has a duty of care. The rules are basically the same in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but they are linked to different laws for those regions.
The answer to the question ‘Does the LA have a duty of care?’ is yes they do for people in their care, but the detail around their duties is laid out in legislation, (mainly in the Care Act), so the detail depends upon what situation is being addressed and the person having been acknowledged as being in need of care and support.
The Care Act, regulations, and statutory guidance lay out what the LA has a duty to provide. Unfortunately in some places in the guidance it is rather vague e.g an assessment must be carried out in an ‘appropriate and reasonable timescale’ – as you can imagine that could be a moveable feast!
Our factsheet on Assessment for Care and Support in England has information about ‘eligibility criteria’ for a person with care needs as well as carers and explains how people are assessed as needing care and support.
The Care Act introduced national criteria for assessment so the rules for what constitutes an ‘eligible need’ are the same wherever you live now. However, once assessed, how a person’s needs are met will vary from one LA to another because different services are available in different places.
Some issues are best addressed via the complaints process if the LA has not acted appropriately. Every LA must make information about their complaints process available to the public and it is usually available on their website, though it is sometimes referred to as ‘concerns’ or ‘compliments’ so you may have to search for it.
It is always advisable to ask the LA for written confirmation of any information and decisions reached whether it’s about assessment of need, how needs will be met, or about the financial assessment. This is crucial if there is a need to complain about the service received because although the complaints process starts locally and you must complain formally first to the LA, if the complaint is not resolved you may be able to take the complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and this type of evidence is incredibly helpful.
With or without a dispute the Care Act very clearly lays out the LA’s duty to provide information and advice to people (whether they have eligible care needs or not) and to keep people fully informed. For example to keep people informed about how their needs are assessed, how they will be met, and how their financial assessment is done.
'Duty of care' is a subject that appears quite often on Talking Point. Tina, one of our Knowledge Officers, offered to address some questions around this topic. I hope the below is helpful, and a huge thank you to Tina for offering her expertise to help Talking Point members.
****
The idea that the local authority (LA) adult social services have a ‘duty of care’ is not incorrect. In fact both the NHS and local authority (LA) ‘owe a common law duty of care to the people within their care’ but it may help to update and fine tune our understanding a little.
The Care Act in England clearly states that the LA has a duty to assess if someone appears to have needs and a duty to meet those needs if they are ‘eligible’, as laid out in the Act. So once someone is identified as having eligible needs they are in the LA’s care and the LA has a duty of care. The rules are basically the same in England, Wales and Northern Ireland but they are linked to different laws for those regions.
The answer to the question ‘Does the LA have a duty of care?’ is yes they do for people in their care, but the detail around their duties is laid out in legislation, (mainly in the Care Act), so the detail depends upon what situation is being addressed and the person having been acknowledged as being in need of care and support.
The Care Act, regulations, and statutory guidance lay out what the LA has a duty to provide. Unfortunately in some places in the guidance it is rather vague e.g an assessment must be carried out in an ‘appropriate and reasonable timescale’ – as you can imagine that could be a moveable feast!
Our factsheet on Assessment for Care and Support in England has information about ‘eligibility criteria’ for a person with care needs as well as carers and explains how people are assessed as needing care and support.
The Care Act introduced national criteria for assessment so the rules for what constitutes an ‘eligible need’ are the same wherever you live now. However, once assessed, how a person’s needs are met will vary from one LA to another because different services are available in different places.
Some issues are best addressed via the complaints process if the LA has not acted appropriately. Every LA must make information about their complaints process available to the public and it is usually available on their website, though it is sometimes referred to as ‘concerns’ or ‘compliments’ so you may have to search for it.
It is always advisable to ask the LA for written confirmation of any information and decisions reached whether it’s about assessment of need, how needs will be met, or about the financial assessment. This is crucial if there is a need to complain about the service received because although the complaints process starts locally and you must complain formally first to the LA, if the complaint is not resolved you may be able to take the complaint to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman and this type of evidence is incredibly helpful.
With or without a dispute the Care Act very clearly lays out the LA’s duty to provide information and advice to people (whether they have eligible care needs or not) and to keep people fully informed. For example to keep people informed about how their needs are assessed, how they will be met, and how their financial assessment is done.
