3.14.4 Setting up and Making Changes to Domiciliary Care |
Contents
- Introduction and Notes
- How to Complete the Form
- Change of Circumstances
- Temporary Variations
- What to do Next
- Carer's Grant
1. Introduction and Notes
This procedure is for all referrals and changes to service for Excelcare and Crossroads with whom we have contracts for service. It should also be used for spot purchased services from other agencies (including Allied, Millennium, Harmony) but the use of an alternative agency must be agreed by a Manager prior to making the referral.
All new referrals and any changes to domiciliary care are to be made using the new form.
Prior to a new referral, a Family Support Assessment is carried out and agreed and it is deemed that a family can receive a specific number of hours per week. The Family Support Coordinator or the Social Worker / Social Work Assistant has a discussion with the family about what kind of respite they would like.
If the family have opted for domiciliary care the following should be discussed;
- would the family prefer a male or female carer
- what day(s) of the week and what times of the day they would like the service
- what the family would like their child to do while with the carer.
Personal Care is not included within the Family Support Assessment and is agreed on a case by case basis by the service manager.
Families cannot bank hours to use at a later date. The only circumstance where a family may be 'owed' hours is when the agency cannot provide a carer. In this circumstance the agency will return a domiciliary care form to this team informing us of the variation in service. The only exception to this is when a child is hospitalised and service is not required at that moment. However, service must be used within 48 hours of the hospitalisation ending, or previous schedule will take over.
Any emergency hours that you may set up verbally with the agency must be followed up by a domiciliary care form within 24 working hours. If this does not happen the agency will contact a Manager and the service may be stopped.
Sibling Group care must be agreed in advance with a Manager, especially where one child of the group may not be known to our team. Please ensure that the referral is made in the name of the child / children known to our team. Sibling Group care is when one worker provides the care to two (or more) children and is paid at a different rate. Please check rate with Business Support before filling in form.
2. How to Complete the Form
New Referrals
Tick the box for New Referral.
The Swift number must be checked on ICS then added to top of form. Do not carry forward from previous forms.
Add basic details; child's name, address, telephone number, carer name, ethnicity. On the right hand side add child's disability and any related information that the agency may need to know.
Add contact details of the agency.
In the comments section, include whether service is weekly, fortnightly, holiday only, male or female carer and any other relevant information.
A start date must be added, please ensure this is the planned start date of the service not the date of referral. Schedules run from Monday - Sunday, so a new schedule would need a start date of Monday. In Emergency and one-off schedules, it is possible for the start day to be any day due to the nature of emergency care. It is your responsibility as the referrer to ensure that the service starts as requested. Start dates must be entered in full (i.e. 10th January 2007, not just January 2007). If the service is fortnightly or monthly please put in the first date service is to be provided.
An end date must be entered if the end of service is known (e.g. If the young person will turn 18 during the coming financial year - April - March, if the service has only been agreed for six months etc.). Note that if an end date is entered this will be put on Swift and any service provided by the agency after this date will not be paid.
Where service is ongoing indicate the date of FSA review under review date. If service agreed temporarily add agreed end or review date. It is your responsibility as referrer to ensure that review dates are met by recording in your diary or the duty diary. Business Support and the Provider will not act on the review date - it is a Social Work tool ONLY to prompt the review of service. If no end date is agreed, the service will continue as scheduled.
Tick the box for which day of the week service is to be provided and add start and end times.
Calculate number of hours provided and add how many workers required.
For type of service add;
| PC | Personal Care |
| SH | Support in the Home |
| TO | Child to be taken out of home |
| MN | Mentoring - child to be taken to social situations to learn social interaction |
| HW | Housework (specify ironing, cleaning etc.) |
| NS | Night sleep in |
| WN | Waking nights |
Please note that all services will be recorded on Swift as SH for invoice purposes.
Hourly rates change every financial year and should be checked with Business Support prior to calculating the total cost.
Under specific duties add what the family have requested e.g. Take child swimming, visit to the park if the weather is fine, stay at home to help with homework, etc.
Add your name and date at the bottom.
EXAMPLE of New Referral:
Child A will have one female carer to provide personal care on weekdays for two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening, 7 - 9am, 3.30 - 5.30pm. Child A will also have support in the home on Saturdays from 10am - 12 noon provided by a female carer.
In addition, Child A will have Saturday and Sunday services to be taken out by two carers, one male if available, from 3 - 5pm.
This service will be reviewed at FSA in December and is ongoing.
See following form;
Click here to see the sample form
3. Change of Circumstances
One-offs
- One-off provisions of care are to be filled in as a new referral and must have a start date and an end date.
Permanent change to service
- To be filled in the same way as new referrals but mark the top box as 'permanent change to service'.
- Start date entered must be the start date of the change.
- Complete an end of service form (see below) for the previous service.
- Remember to specify whether service will be weekly, fortnightly, etc. Do not write 'as previous schedule', you must fill in all boxes as a new referral.
EXAMPLE of Permanent Change to Service:
- Child A now gets home from school at 4.30 as she attends after school club. Weekday care is to change from 3.30 - 5.30pm to 4.30 - 6.30pm. All other details remain the same.
- Due to the change in service, the FSA will be reviewed in March and is ongoing.
Click here to see the sample form
4. Temporary Variations
There are two possible types of temporary variation; a change to service lasting less than two weeks or a change lasting more than two weeks but not permanently. Temporary variations will also include additional services.
Part One; For changes to service for less than two weeks.
- Form to be filled out as new referral but mark top box as 'temporary variation'.
- Ensure that you fill out both start and end dates of the variation.
- Only the variation details need to be marked and you can add in the comments section that all other services remain unaffected.
EXAMPLE of Temporary Change to Service lasting less than two weeks:
Child A will have an extra hour service each Monday and Friday at the end of the evening service and this will be provided by two carers. This is to get her bathed and ready for bed as Dad will work late on these days for the next two weeks and is not available to assist. Mum has hurt her back and the Doctor has recommended that she does not assist for two weeks.
In addition, Mum has requested that as next week is a Bank Holiday Monday, she change her Saturday am service to the Monday as some relatives from abroad are visiting on Saturday and Child A would like to spend some time with them.
See following form marked Part One.
Part Two; For changes to service of more than two weeks.
- Form to be filled out as new referral but mark top box as 'temporary variation'.
- Ensure that you fill out both start and end dates of the variation.
- Only the variation details need to be marked and you can add in the comments section that all other services remain unaffected.
- If the schedule will revert to the previous one after the change a new 'Temporary variation' form is to be filled out stating a return to the previous schedule.
EXAMPLE of Temporary Change to Service lasting more than two weeks:
During the Summer Holidays, Child A will have her weekday care from 11.00am to 3.00pm instead of the morning and evening service. This will be as support in the home as she does not need the personal care to get her ready for school.
See following form marked Part Two;
Click here to see the sample form
Break in Service
All breaks in service that are requested by families need to be reported to the agency and Business Support on the same form. Start and End dates of the service need to be put in and tick box for Break in Service.
EXAMPLE of Break in Service:
Parents of Child A are taking her to visit relatives overseas for three weeks during the Summer Holidays.
Form to be completed stating this.
End of Service
For all services which end, a form needs to be completed and sent to the provider to ensure that the service does not continue. If this is unexpected, the providers can be verbally informed to ensure service is stopped immediately, however, a form MUST be sent to the providers within 24 hours.
Services will be ended at the date stated on the form. If service is then reinstated another form needs to be completed as a new referral.
At the start of every Financial Year an End of Service form must be completed for each young person who turns 18 the following financial year. The Family Support Co-ordinator will advise Social Workers / SWAs of which young people this refers to.
EXAMPLE of End of Service:
Mother of Child A decides to use Direct Payments. After referral confirmation is received that the Direct Payments will begin on 1st November, so agency service is not required after this date.
Form needs to be completed stating this.
Holiday Only Services
Holiday Services need to be planned at least one month prior to the start of the school holidays. The aim is that each Social Worker and Social Work Assistant completes one Dom Care form per child per financial year to cover all school holidays in the period April-March. For most families, this will be an easy task as they receive the same package of care each holiday, however, this should be discussed with the family before each holiday in case they would like to change the hours to fit in with any other activities, e.g. play schemes; or also in case the family are going abroad and do not require a service.
5. What to do Next
All new referrals and all changes of service need to be approved by a Service Manager; in Service Manager's absence, a Team Manager, prior to referral to the agency. When you have obtained this written agreement, you need to e-mail the form to the Family Support Coordinator.
The Family Support Coordinator will check that the form is correctly filled in, however, it is the Social Worker/Social Work Assistant's responsibility to ensure that the form has been fully and correctly completed; and can update the Spreadsheet of services provided. The FSC will then forward the form to the Service Manager or in Service manager's absence, Team Manager. They will then forward the form to the agency and will copy the referring Social Work / Assistant and Business Support into the e-mail.
In the absence of the Family Support Coordinator you should e-mail the form to your Team Manager or to the Service Manager.
Business Support will place a copy of the form on the child's file in Meridio. You do not need to keep a copy.
6. Carer's Grant
For any Dom Care agreed to be funded from the carers grant, there is a separate Dom Care form which must be requested from a Team Manager.
As procedures within the Children with Disabilities Service, Social Work or Business Support change, this document will be updated accordingly.
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