Community care provides for both the social and health care of the older members of our community.
The guiding principle of the past generation is that if you need care and support, you should be encouraged and assisted to live, with as much independence as possible, in the community, rather than in an institution.
Community care services can support you in your own home, offer you access to respite and day care or provide you with sheltered housing.
Otherwise, community care will see to your placement in group homes and hostels or residential and nursing homes.
A consequence of this has been an increase in the number of people seeking information on the provision of community care services and on their rights and entitlements to those services. Therefore, we have created these pages for you.
An assessment of need will be carried out to determine what your needs are and what services would be best suited for meeting these assessed needs.
A care package will be arranged, provided and monitored in consultation with your wishes. In fact, to allow you to have as much independence as possible, you may decide to prevail of Direct Payments. These may allow you to decide who cares for you and how the money is spent.
Otherwise, we may help you choose from the residential and nursing care options available and, finally, work out how you can pay for the services you need.
First and foremost, though, we have prepared information directly relevant to the great, unsung heroes of our community - carers.