Care Act 2014
What is the Care Act 2014?
The purpose of the Care Act 2014 is to make care and support more consistent across the country. The concept of meeting an individual person's needs is central to the Care Act and it is a core legal entitlement for adults who receive local authority care and support.
Your wellbeing
Local authorities must ensure that, when carrying out any of their care and support functions, they promote wellbeing by actively seeking improvements in the aspects of wellbeing including your:
- control over your daily life
- emotional wellbeing
- protection from abuse and neglect
- physical and mental health
- social and economic wellbeing
- suitable accommodation
- dignity and respect
- participation and contribution
- relationships
Local authorities must also support you to participate as fully as possible in decisions relating to your care, to try to take steps with you that prevent or delay your care needs from increasing, and ensure that your wishes and feelings are taken into consideration throughout the process.
Further information about promoting wellbeing can be found in the government's statutory guidance on care and support.
What are my rights under the Care Act 2014?
Care and support
‘Care and support’ is the term used to describe the help some adults need to live as well as possible with any illness or disability they may have.
The purpose of any care and support that a person receives is to enable them to achieve the outcomes that matter to them and to ensure that their needs are met.
Care and support includes:
- Help with getting out of bed, washing, dressing, getting to work, cooking meals, eating, seeing friends, caring for families and being part of the community.
- Emotional support at a time of difficulty and stress or helping people who are caring for an adult family member or friend.
- Help given by family and friends, as well as any provided by the council or other organisations.
Care Act assessment
If you are aged 18 or over and you appear to require care and support needs, you are entitled to receive a Care Act assessment from your local authority regardless of your financial circumstances.
The Care Act assessment in Camden is a conversation we have together about what matters to you. It will help us to understand:
- your current arrangements for living and care
- any support needs you have
- your concerns and thoughts about how you would like to be supported to do the things that matter to you.
We'll work with you to come up with a plan for how we can help you to do what it is that you want to achieve. Building on your strengths, interests, and values we'll always focus on what you can do, not what you can't do.
Once a plan is in place, a local authority has a duty to review your plan regularly, or if there has been a change in circumstances that may have affected your care and support.
Visit the Adult Social Care services section to find out more about support available from Adult Social Care, including information in easy read format. For more in-depth information about Care Act assessments and the legal duties of the local authority, you can browse the resources on the Social Care Institute of Excellence (SCIE) website.
Carers
If you provide unpaid care and support to a family member or friend, you are entitled to a carers assessment under the Care Act 2014. In Camden, we call this a ‘Carers Conversation’. Visit our Carers section where you can find out more about the process, and what support is available to you.
Safeguarding adults
When an adult has care and support needs, they may be more vulnerable to experiencing abuse. Safeguarding adults is the protection of a person’s right to live in safety and the Care Act outlines key processes that local authorities must follow to address safeguarding concerns.
For more information about types of abuse, Camden’s safeguarding policy, and ways to report safeguarding concerns, this can be found in our safeguarding adults section.
Easy Read information on safeguarding is available here.
Information and guidance
As a local authority, Camden has a responsibility to ensure that you have access to information and guidance about your rights and entitlements, and how to access support in Camden.
If you can’t find the information you are looking for, or want to let us know about information that is not up to date, you can email us at [email protected]