Statutory guidance issued on integrated care assessment arrangements

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The Welsh Government’s Health Minister, Mark Drakeford, has today (December 4) issued guidance to help simplify the assessment process, reduce the administrative burden and better integrate care arrangements for older people.

The ‘Integrated Assessment, Planning and Review Arrangements for Older People’ statutory guidance is aimed at placing people at the centre of assessing their needs, capacity and resources – and desired outcomes. It should also help them complete a care and support plan.

  • The new guidance replaces the ‘Unified Assessment Process’ for those aged 65 and above.

 It places people more at the centre of assessing their needs, capacity and resources and desired outcomes and helps them to complete a care and support plan. The guidance instructs Local Health Boards and Local Authorities to work together in:

 

· Using consistent forms across the Health Board footprint (i.e. HB and Local Authorities within the area)

 

· Appointing a lead professional

 

· Sharing core data

 

· Providing useful templates

 

People entering residential care should have their care and support plan reviewed after 6-8 weeks initially.

Read Health Minister’s notification to local health boards and local authorities

In a statement issued by the Welsh Government Health Minister Mark Drakeford said: “The guidance is to be implemented with immediate effect by “all local authorities, local health boards and Velindre NHS Trust; with the exception of the requirement to develop and implement a common assessment template, which must be implemented by 30 April 2014.”

 

The guidance sets out the responsibilities and duties on health and social care services to provide integrated arrangements for assessment and care management for older people and replaces the guidance, Creating a Unified and Fair System for Assessing and Managing Care in respect of people aged 65 years and over.

Read the guidance in full:

 

Read the new guidance in English – http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/publications/socialcare/guidance1/assessment1/?skip=1&lang=en

Read the new guidance in Welsh – http://wales.gov.uk/topics/health/publications/socialcare/guidance1/assessment1/?skip=1&lang=cy