Services

Who qualifies for a service?

Independent life can often be threatened by difficulties of a seemingly small nature such as property maintenance, lack of social contact or the opportunity to maintain links within the local community.

Often if people are not provided with appropriate information and/or do not have access to good quality low-level services they could become increasingly dependent and subsequently require access to direct social care provision. Examples of this would be  if you are not able to do some of the things you used to do for example go shopping on your own, if you need some help with jobs like keeping the house clean and tidy, decorating or gardening.

Therefore the Care Network service was established with a help-desk which offers assistance to people seeking information about services. The help desk staff will link people to services provided by other Borough departments, partner agencies and the private and voluntary sector. There is no income restriction for people using Care Network services.

What will the Customer experience? 

The Customer contacts the Helpdesk by telephone or email with an enquiry about a service they need.  An Adviser will chat to them about the service and also any broader issues that may be giving them concern.  If there is an identified need, the Adviser will arrange to visit them in their own home to discuss their needs further. 

Having clarified what they need, the Adviser will refer them to the chosen service, such as cleaning, gardening, assisted shopping, home maintenance, decorating or a luncheon club.  The assistance to this point is free.  The customer will need to pay the provider for the service, but they will find the cost affordable and be reassured by knowing that the provider has been checked out beforehand, and is well known to Care Network.  Later, they will be asked to give feedback on the quality of the service they received.  If they are dissatisfied, Care Network will help resolve the matter.