Carers

Since April 2015, local authorities have had a legal duty to meet a carer’s eligible needs for support.

When a carers’ assessment is complete, the local authority must decide whether the carer’s needs are eligible for support from the local authority. This eligibility depends on your situation.

The Care Act 2014
Carers have rights to an assessment of their own needs to be carried out by the Local Authority (PCC).

Assessment of a carer’s needs for support

• Where it appears to a local authority that a carer may have needs for support (whether currently or in the future), the authority must assess
• Whether the carer does have needs for support (or is likely to do so in the future)
• If the carer does, what those needs are (or are likely to be in the future)

To find out more

Carers are entitled to an assessment in their own right and Peterborough Adult Social Care need to consider the carer’s ability to provide care on a regular basis.

This support could include being offered money to pay for things that make caring easier for you and practical support such as arranging for someone to step in when you need a short break. It could also put you in touch with local support groups so you have people to talk to. To have an assessment as a carer, Telephone Peterborough City Council on 01733 747474 , or Visit their website www.peterborough.gov.uk

After your carer’s assessment, you should receive a written care plan identifying your needs and any information, support or services that could be provided, such as breaks from caring. Social services should liaise with other authorities (such as housing or a health organisation) if that is relevant for you. Your care and support plan should include details of what should happen if your situation gets worse. However, if your situation does change, you should contact social services and ask them to reassess you.

Local authorities do not usually charge for providing support to carers because of the valuable contribution that carers make. However, if the local authority does decide to charge a carer for providing them with support, they must carry out a financial assessment to decide whether the carer can afford to pay. If you are a carer, you will only be charged for services provided to you, not for services that are for the person you are looking after.

If supporting a carer involves providing care to the person being cared for, and the local authority chooses to charge for that type of care, then the authority must carry out a financial assessment of the person who is being cared for. This is because the care would be provided directly to that adult and not to the carer.

Funding for care and nursing homes costs vary hugely between residential homes, depending on the level of care required. Peterborough Adult Social Care may meet some of the cost of care depending on assessment. However, you may still have to contribute to the cost of your care. The amount of your contribution will be dependent on your personal financial situation.

Residential Care Homes are run by private individuals or companies on a commercial basis, or by voluntary groups such as charities. They provide help if you cannot manage alone and need help with personal care. They cannot provide long-term, full-time nursing care.

Peterborough Adult Social Care will assess your eligibility for residential care. They can then create a package of care to keep you independent at home. However, you will be means-tested and might need to contribute towards the costs.

A Nursing Home may be appropriate if you need nursing care on a regular basis. Nursing Homes have qualified nursing staff 24 hours per day. Most are owned either privately or by voluntary organisations. Some homes offer both residential and nursing care so you do not have to move if your nursing needs change.

The Sue Ryder Home is a registered Nursing Home in Peterborough, which provides palliative care to patients who are terminally ill and also respite care for chronically sick people. It offers a wide range of services and also operates as a day centre for many local groups of disabled people. Telephone 01733 225900, or Visit Sue Ryder

A Care Plan is intended to supplement the help and care provided by relatives and carers. Community Care Assistants can help you with personal tasks such as washing, dressing and eating, and you would be expected to pay an amount per hour for their services. Arrangements can be made to provide you with a hot meal, either at home or at a day centre or luncheon club. Support to manage child-care can be offered if your disability makes this difficult. The level and amount of help you receive is determined by a Peterborough Adult Social Care assessment and resulting Care Plan, of which you will receive copies. Call Peterborough Adult Social Care for more information 01733 747474

Age UK administers a Home Help scheme using self-employed people to carry out services such as cleaning, laundry and shopping. There is a charge for these services. Telephone 01733 564185, or Visit www.ageuk.org.uk/CambridgeshireandPeterborough

It is recommended that all carers have a ‘what if?’ plan in place. If you are unable to look after the person you care for, this ensures they will still be supported. Caring Together run a ‘What If?’ Service, which is available for up to 72 hours, 24/7, every day of the year. Telephone 0345 241 0954, or Visit www.caringtogether.org

Caring Together can provide you with a Carers Card, which helps you to be identified as a carer when you are at the shops, GP surgery, pharmacist or other relevant places. Visit www.caringtogether.org

It is recommended that you contact the GP of the person you care for and inform them that you are their carer.

Respite care/short breaks means taking a break from caring, while the person you care for is looked after by someone else. It lets you take time out to look after yourself and helps to stop you becoming fatigued. Residential and nursing homes may be able to offer respite care. You can contact Peterborough Adult Social Care to see if you are eligible and if there is funding available to help with the cost 01733 747474

You are a Young Carer if you are a child or young person who offers practical or emotional caring support to someone with a mental or physical illness and/or disability. A dedicated team at Centre 33 offers help and advice to young carers. Telephone 0333 414 1809, or Visit their website www.centre33.org.uk

Carers UK and Cambridgeshire County Council have teamed up to give carers in our area access to a wide range of digital tools and essential resources that may help make their caring situation easier.

Follow these steps to register for their FREE digital resources

• Visit carersdigital.org
• Create an account using your free access code: DGTL3385
• Get free access to all the digital products and online resources, including:
  • E-Learning Helping carers build resilience
    Designed to help carers access advice and information relevant to their situation, find resources and identify sources of support including technology, as well as promote carers’ own health and wellbeing.
  • Jointly Care co-ordination app
    A central place to store and share important information about the person you are caring for. Set up appointments, allocate tasks, save files and notes, manage medication and lots more.
  • Free publications Carers UK guides
    Essential reading for carers including: Upfront guide to caring, Looking after someone – Carers Rights Guide and Being heard: A self-advocacy guide for carers.

Social Care Institute of Excellence have video-based resources to help people look after someone safely at home.

Each section has a set of videos designed to give you and the person you care for practical and relevant information to support you day to day. www.scie.org.uk/carers

If the person you care for becomes incapable of managing their affairs you can become their appointee. You need a letter from their doctor confirming the situation. If you take the letter to the Benefits Agency and complete form BF56, benefits will then be sent out in your name. If you have power of attorney, you will automatically be able to become an appointee once the Benefits agency has a photocopy of confirmation of this.

If you lose mental capacity, unless you have already filled in the Power of Attorney forms, your loved ones will need to apply through court to become ‘deputy’ in order to manage your affairs and access your money, even if it is to pay for your care. This can be a long and expensive process.

By setting up a Lasting Power of Attorney, you can nominate a trusted friend or relative before you lose capacity. For more information and full step-by-step instructions, see the government’s Power of Attorney Guide.

Make, register or end a lasting power of attorney by following this link

A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that allows a person to nominate a trusted friend or relative to look after their affairs if they lose capacity. There are two types of LPA: one for finance and property, another for health and welfare. These are separate documents and it costs £82 to register each one in England and Wales (£164 in total if you choose to set up both). If the donor’s (the person making the LPA) income before tax is less than £12,000 a year, they only have to pay half, known as a ‘50% remission’.

Lasting Power of Attorney replaced the previous Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA) system. EPAs set up before 1 October 2007 are still valid, whether or not they have been registered, though they must be registered when a person loses capacity, which now also costs £82 instead of £110.

When someone dies at home you need to call your doctor, who will sign a medical certificate confirming death. If the death is in hospital, the doctor there will sign the certificate. The death must be registered within five days of the death. Please contact the Registry Office to book an appointment on 01733 864646 or book an appointment online Peterborough Council Online Registration Services.

The Registry office will be able to provide you up to date information on how to register the death as the process is regularly being reviewed due to the pandemic.

You will need personal details of the deceased, including their date and place of both birth and death, and their marriage certificate if applicable. The Registrar will want to know if they were receiving a pension or any welfare benefits. The Registrar will then issue the death certificate and the notification of disposal, which should be given to the Funeral Director. You will probably need up to five copies of the death certificate, for the Will, pension, insurance claims etc.

Tell Us Once is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.
A registrar will explain the Tell Us Once service when you register the death. They will either:

• Complete the Tell Us Once service with you
• Give you a unique reference number so you can use the service yourself online or by phone

The registrar will give you a number to call. This includes a video relay service for British Sign Language (BSL) users and Relay UK if you cannot hear or speak on the phone.

You must use the service within 84 days of getting your unique reference number.

If you cannot register the death because an inquest is underway, you can still ask a registrar for a unique reference number. You will need to get an interim death certificate from the coroner holding the inquest first.

Tell Us Once will notify:

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example Child Benefit and tax credits (you need to contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example Universal Credit or State Pension
• Passport Office – to cancel a British passport
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) – to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax (you must contact DVLA separately if you either sell the vehicle or keep it and tax it in your own name)
• The local council – to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support), a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
• Veterans UK – to cancel Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments