Adult Social Care - the way we are organised and the approach we take has changed
Adult Social Care has for a long time been organised according to specialism. This means that if a person with a physical disability, a learning disability, a mental health need or dementia has needed our help, they will have been supported by a specific team according to that need.
In the new way of working, we are organised in 3 localities (East, West and Central), so that people are supported by a team which is focused on their local area and linked to their GP surgery wherever possible. We hope this makes us more connected to local resources and more efficient in our response.
There are some exceptions to this, including our Sensory Needs team, which will cover the whole of the district
- Maximising Independence, who work with people in hospital
- our Provider Services (Resource Centres, Residential services)
- our Reablement Team
- our Review Team, who make sure that services are working successfully
Where an individual lacks the capacity to manage their affairs and finances, we will work with them to ensure they have appropriate support.
If you'd prefer to talk to someone, please contact our Contact Centre who will help you find the right locality team to deal with all adult social care enquiries and requests for help.
Who to contact
- Telephone
- 01635 503050
- ccenquiries@westberks.gov.uk
- Website
- Adult Social Care
Where to go
- Name
- West Street House
- Address
-
West Street
Newbury
Berkshire - Postcode
- RG14 1BZ
Time / Date Details
- When is it on
- The office and phone line is open Monday to Thursday 8.30am to 5.00pm and 8.30am to 4.30pm on a Friday. We are closed on bank holidays.
Other Details
Availability
- Age Ranges
- Referral required
- Yes
- Referral Details
To arrange an assessment, you can complete our online enquiry, or if you wish, you can complete our WBC Assessment of social care need form [171kb] yourself.
- Other notes
For out of hours social care (not health) emergencies, please contact the Emergency Duty Team: edt@bracknell-forest.gov.uk Tel: 01344 786543 Fax: 01344 786535
Local Offer
- Description
Understanding your needs and circumstances to help you stay as independent as possible
Our first offer to you is a conversation about how you can successfully manage your life. This may involve a discussion about resources in your community that might be helpful. It will also include consideration of your strengths and abilities, including those of your family, carers and wider community.
Our offer to you includes:
- expertise, knowledge and experience
- information and advice and signposting
- routine reviews to ensure that care arrangements are still meeting your needs and are of an acceptable quality
- legal expertise and advice for people who lack capacity
- help at home to support people as necessary with personal care and essential daily living
- supporting carers to enable them to continue in their role - we recognise the value of providing carers with good support. Help for carers provides further information on the support we can provide carers
- signposting to a range of specialist
- exploring NHS Continuing Health Care eligibility
- specialist Occupational Therapists to work with individuals to provide equipment and assistive technology to maximise people's ability to live independently
- we work with our reablement service to help people be discharged from hospital safely and quickly
- Safeguarding adults at risk - we work with other agencies to prevent abuse of adults at risk and investigate any concerns of abuse
If you are unable to tell us what you need, have communication difficulties and have no-one else to support you we will arrange an independent advocate to help you through the process and share your views.
We will support you through the sometimes difficult process of understanding what adult social care is available, and can let you know about the options you have.
- SEN Provision Type
- Profound and Multiple Learning Difficulties, Speech & Language Difficulties, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Physical Disability, Hearing Impairment, Severe Learning Difficulties, Visual Impairment
- Local Offer Age Bands
- 19 plus
General Provider
If you require any information in a different format such as audio tape or in another language, please ask an English speaker to contact Adult Social Care on 01635 503050 or email: ccenquiries@westberks.gov.uk
National Eligibility Criteria The Care and Support (Eligibility Criteria) Regulations 2014 set out a national eligibility threshold. This means that there's a level of need at which we will offer support - it's now set by the government so it's the same wherever you live. We can only give you support if you are assessed as having an eligible need. If you're not assessed as having an eligible need, we'll still provide information, advice and agree any preventative actions to help you remain independent. This might include putting you in touch with other services, organisations and support groups. If you're assessed as having eligible needs; we will work with you to identify solutions and agree the things we need to do to meet your requirements. We'll agree the steps with you and write them down in a detailed Care and Support plan for you.
Anyone, friends, relatives, carers, guardians or health professional can make a referral by making a phone call to 01635 503050 and answering a number of questions or by emailing details to ccenquiries@westberks.gov.uk or faxing to 01635 503399.
Response times vary according to the urgency of the need identified.
Information advice is free. If you require a chargeable service - we will carry out a financial assessment based on your personal financial circumstances only, to see whether you would have to contribute towards the cost of your service.
We aim to provide the best service to you and we like to know when we are getting it right. We also recognise that at times things can go wrong. When they do, we want to put things right quickly, and use the experience to improve our services and prevent future problems. We will decide with you on the best way to resolve your complaint. If another organisation is involved, such as the National Health Service or a care provider, we'll also include them. Our leaflet, Listening to Your Views - How to complain about or comment on Adult Social Care services [840kb] provides a summary of our complaints process. How to make a complaint Speak to the manager of the service you are dealing with – most concerns or complaints can be resolved quickly through discussions with the manager or contact the Adult Social Care Complaints Manager by: ________________________________________ Email: complaintsadultssocialcare@westberks.gov.uk Telephone: 01635 503391 Fax: 01635 519939 ________________________________________ Alternatively you can register your complaint online
Pre-employment checks are carried out for all employees to ensure that they are suitable for employment, appropriately qualified and can be lawfully employed. For some roles, checks are carried out to ensure the applicant does not pose a risk to the safety of children, young people and/or vulnerable adults.
West Berkshire Council do not promote or endorse any of the services listed in this Directory. For more information on this please read our disclaimer here