Single Assessment Process

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Social Care and Health Care teams across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent are using the Single Assessment Process to make sure that people get the right care or services at the right time to meet their health and social care needs.  This process will help agencies to work together so that assessments and planning care will be better co-ordinated.   With your permission, your assessment information will be shared with other people involved in providing care or services for you.  This means you won't have to keep giving the same information to different people.  The Single Assessment Process should ensure that:

• The scale and depth of assessment is in proportion to a person's needs
• Agencies do not duplicate each other's assessments
• Professionals contribute to assessments in the most effective way

What is an assessment?

Assessment means collecting information about you to help understand your needs and circumstances, and how these affect your independence and daily living.  Then we can plan appropriate action with you.  In a good assessment, your views will be a priority.  The assessment should identify your strengths, abilities and your aspirations as well as your needs.  You will be directly involved in decisions about your care.  

Where does the Single Assessment Process come from?

"Staffordshire County Council is not responsible for any of the content of external websites linked from this page." 

The Single Assessment Process was described in the Department of Health's National Service Framework (NSF) for Older People

In Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, the Single Assessment Process is available to all adults, not just older people.  Standard Two of the NSF is "Person Centred Care", and the aim is that:
"NHS and Social Services treat older people as individuals and enable them to make choices about their own care.  This is achieved through the single assessment process, integrated commissioning arrangements and integrated provision of service, including community equipment and continence services."

How will the Single Assessment Process affect you?

Through this process, we will aim to:

• Listen to your views and wishes, making them central to the process.
• Ask for your personal details once and share this information so other agencies don't have to ask you to repeat them.
• Ask your permission to share information when it helps us to arrange the right care and services for you.  Agencies in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent have signed an Information Sharing Protocol describing how we protect personal information.
• Identify carers who play an important part in providing your support, and also offer them an assessment of their own.
• Make sure you are given a copy of your care plan.  A care plan sets out what services will be provided by whom, to meet your needs.
• Give you a folder with your own records, which you can show to visiting professionals or take to appointments to help communication.  This will also ensure your record is kept up to date.

Who can carry out assessments?

You can!  The initial Contact assessment and the Overview assessment may be started by you - with or without help from a relative, carer or member of staff. Whether you fill in the forms yourself, or with a member of staff, you will be fully involved and your views about your situation will be taken into account. Think about what you would like to happen, any special needs or preferences and who you would want to be contacted - this may be a relative, carer or friend.

Different levels of assessment

• The Contact assessment - this is carried out when you first come into contact with a service. It is used to collect basic information such as your name, address, date of birth, GP and carer.  
• The Overview assessment - looks at different aspects of your health and daily life. It helps us to understand the problems you are experiencing, what you are hoping for, and what services may be needed.  It may also show areas where a more specialised assessment is needed.
• Specialist assessment - this is carried out by staff with relevant training and expertise, eg. an Occupational Therapist, Social Worker or Nurse.
• Comprehensive assessment - this involves a variety of specialist in-depth assessments by different professionals, co-ordinated by one agency, to make sure your package of care meets your needs. This level of assessment applies when more complex needs and situations are indentified, and involvement is likely to be intensive or prolonged.

What if you are unhappy with your assessment?

You have the right to complain about the way your assessment has been undertaken, through the normal agencies' complaints systems. You can ask for a leaflet from the appropriate agency. Any comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Single Assessment Process forms are available below for printing

 Contact Assessment

 Overview/Summary form

For more information, you can look at the Department of Health Single Assessment website

The Centre for Policy on Ageing has a useful glossary to help you to understand the terms.

Last Modified: 29/06/2007 09:11:35
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