A Guide to Community Care
What is Community Care?
We all need help and support at sometime in our lives, Community Care is about providing the right level of support, at the right time, to enable people to achieve maximum independence and control over their own lives.
What are your rights to services?
Local Authorities have a legal duty to provide certain services. If you are a disabled person and are assessed as needing services, your local authority has a duty to make arrangements for the provision of those services.
How do I get an assessment?
Contact Centre Advisers provide the first point of contact for requests for assessment. It is important to provide as much information about yourself as you can to enable them to process your application. Inform the Customer Service Adviser of any particular health problem, illness or disability you may have and how this affects your day-to-day activities
Contact Centre Advisers
Wesley House
Corporation Street
St Helens
WA10 1HF
Tel: 01744 456600
Out of Hours Services?
If you have a problem out of hours you need to contact:
Tel: 01744 456660
What help can be provided?
Some examples of support are:
Home Care (help with personal care)
Meals on Wheels
Aids and equipment
Day Care Services
Respite Care
What is a Carer’s Assessment?
If you are a carer of a disabled person, and fit the criteria, you may be entitled to an assessment in your own right. This assessment can result in additional help being provided to the person who is cared for.
St Helens Carers Centre
Millennium House
Bickerstaffe Street
WA10 1DH
Tel: 01744 675615
info@sthelenscarers.org.uk
www.sthelenscarers.org.uk
Direct Payments
What are Direct Payments?
Direct Payments are a new way for individuals to meet their assessed personal and social care needs. The way it works is that instead of St Helens Local Authority arranging support, you can be provided with money to buy your own support.
Direct Payments enables people to have more control and choice over the way their needs are met. People who take up Direct Payments can decide how, when and by whom their support will be provided. This might be by employing their own personal assistant, or arranging with an agency to provide services.
St Helens Direct Payments Partnership
3rd Floor
Tontine House
24 Church Street
St Helens
WA10 1BD
Tel: 01744 758012
What do I do if I have a complaint or comment
If you are dissatisfied with the services you receive or if you wish to make a comment about a service then you need to contact:
Complaints and Public Information Officers
Apartment 5
Tolver House
Tolver Street
St. Helens
WA10 1JE
Tel: (01744)677869/677999
Fax:(01744)677859