Local Account

Social care offers a range of support and advice. It may be provided by us or from organisations that we can put you in touch with. Social care enables you to continue to look after yourself, stay safe and live the life that you want.

We can help you in this regardless of whether you have the resources to pay for your care (self-funder) or not.

We will support you:

• By listening to you to understand which aspects of daily life you need support with.
• To do as much as you can for yourself.
• By making sure that the decisions you make, help you to stay safe and well.
• To have the right support networks and feel connected to people who are important to you.

If you need support, please email: gatewaytocare@calderdale.gov.uk to discuss how best to meet your needs. We will also help to make sure that you do not pay more for support than you can afford.

There is a range of support available either from us directly or from other organisations that we can put you in touch with, so please get in touch if you feel we could help.

Who to contact

Gateway to Care:

• Phone: (01422) 393000.
• Email: gatewaytocare@calderdale.gov.uk.
• Website: Contact webform.

Online

To find useful information or contact us, visit: Calder Connect. (Select 'Staying at Home', then select 'Online contact form'.)

This will provide you with direct access to information. It will also enable you to browse and purchase products and services which might be helpful for you.

What if I need help to explain things?

Gateway to Care is there to answer your questions or concerns. If they cannot do this directly, they can put you in touch with Advocacy or Peer Support. For example, if you are living with Asperger's, mental health conditions or have a learning disability.

There are also groups that can assist you or your carers; these groups offer friendship, support and coping strategies.

Useful links

• Calderdale Healthy Minds.
• Calderdale Advocacy Service (Cloverleaf).
• Lead the Way. A service for people with learning disabilities.
• Healthwatch Calderdale. An advice and information service for social care and NHS support. Someone from there will help you to have your say about the support that you get.

At times we all need a little extra support for a short while.

If you need support, we can help you in your own home with things like:

• Increasing your confidence.
• Providing technology to keep you safe at home, like care alarms or door sensors.
• Linking you into community activities in your area.
• Supporting you to be physically active.
• Improving your mobility and preventing falls.
• Everyday tasks, such as making a meal, cup of tea, medication prompting and more.
• Providing advice equipment or changes to your home environment which will help reduce the impact of illness or disability on your health, wellbeing and independence.
• Supporting you to gain employment.
• Supporting you with housing issues.

You can also get help from social care staff through our out of hours team.

Other early or preventative support that you can get in your home

Depending on your situation, the sort of things that might help you include:

Care Line System and responder service. Linked to a responder centre where someone can arrange help or contact your family and friends, should you need support.

• Fall detectors.
• Door, bed and chair sensors.
• Smoke or carbon monoxide detectors.

Medication dispensers/Pivitols. These make taking medication easier or remind you when to take it.

Tracking systems. These can help if you care for someone with dementia who goes "purposeful walking" at times.

The Reablement Team. They can support you for up to six weeks. This can be to help you recover from an illness, injury or if you have been diagnosed with dementia. They can also assist if you just need a bit of extra help, so you can continue living at home.

For more information about these services, contact Gateway to Care:

• Phone: (01422) 393000.
• Email: gatewaytocare@calderdale.gov.uk.
• Website: Contact webform.

Do you or someone you care for need information or advice? Do you need some support to keep living at home? Whatever your need, you can contact us.

Our aim is to work with you to get the best outcome for you as quickly as possible.

How you will know what support you can get

The first thing to do is to contact Gateway to Care. One of our advisors will take some basic details from you and agree with you the next steps. They may be able to help you there and then.

If they cannot, they will arrange for someone to contact you to discuss your needs and outcomes further. (This is called an assessment).

What an assessment is

This is where a social worker, service co-ordinator or occupational therapist will have a conversation with you about any social care support that you might need. They will discuss things with you, such as:

• What is important to you and what you want to achieve.
• Your strengths and support networks.
• Your needs and well-being.
• The things that matter to you.
• Enabling you to identify your desired outcomes.
• How much you may have to pay, if anything – for more information, see: Paying for your care and support.

After the assessment, we will consider whether any of the needs you have may be eligible for care and support from us and if so, we will work out how your well-being can be maintained and agree a Wellbeing Plan with you.

If you want more information about the way we work or about social care needs, see: Care Act 2014.

What a Well-being Plan is

This is a document that you get, which sets out the detail of your desired outcomes and how they will be achieved.

What type of services can I access after my assessment?

Some examples of support in your own home include:

Equipment and changes to your home environment. We can provide advice and a range of equipment or adaptations to your home which will help reduce the impact of illness/ disabilities on your health, wellbeing and independence. These would also help those that help care for you continue to do so in a safe way. For example, a piece of equipment to help you get in the bath or a stair lift. We can also carry out moving and handling assessments, which focus on keeping your dignity, choice and control. 

Mobile response and monitoring service. We can provide you with equipment and sensors that are connected to a mobile response call centre. Should you need assistance they can send someone to your home to help you or alert family and friends and inform them that you need assistance. This support can help you (or those you care for) to live safely and independently at home.

Floating support. A range of help and support for people over 60 years old, in your own home or tenancy. This will focus on you being able to keep your home and independence.

Home care. There are a range of care providers that we approve who can visit you at home and help you to stay independent. This can be provided several times a day if you need it.

Carers can support with personal care, help you to prepare meals and look after your home.

It can be accessed via a direct payment. This gives greater choice in terms of when, where and how you get the support you need.

Day opportunities. These provide a range of opportunities and activities, across Calderdale, to support you. They provide health and social care support for older people or adults with a learning disability. Also, if you have complex needs, like dementia, autism or physical health needs.

These also provide social, leisure and employment opportunities to meet your outcomes and promote your wellbeing.

Shared Lives. Provides focussed support in a range of home settings. This can be for a short time or longer period. We will work with you to match you to the carer who is best able to meet your needs. For more about this, please see: Adult placement schemes.

Supported living. There is a wide range of accommodation and support available. This ranges from independent apartments to shared houses and the support provided varies according to tenants' needs.

We work with a wide range of housing and support providers to make sure that this can meet the full range of tenants’ needs. We continue to review it and work with landlords to develop new accommodation of a high standard that is adaptable and responsive to changing needs.

Extra care. Provides accommodation with shared communal facilities and on-site support. Tenants have their own front door, but can access on-site support, based on their individual needs.

There are five schemes in Calderdale. This includes Railway Bridge in Brighouse, which provides specialist accommodation for people with dementia. One scheme is closed for major works to be done and re-opens in 2025.

Care homes. There are a number of options for 24-hour care, such as:

• Residential care, which gives help with all aspects of personal care.
• Nursing care, where there is always a qualified nurse on duty, for those who have more complex needs.
• Residential and nursing homes that offer specialist support to people with dementia.

Short stay provision provides accommodation for people who need on-going support following a hospital admission or can be used to offer a short break to family carers.

There are residential and nursing homes that specialise in supporting younger adults with learning disabilities. There are also homes that specialise in supporting older people.

Arranging and paying for care and support

We make sure that you do not pay more for support than you can afford. For the most up to date charging information, please see: Paying for your care and support.

If you want to get my own care and support

We will tell you about something called a Personal Budget. This is the amount of money that we work out with you that will cover the cost of your social care support. You can ask for this to be paid as a Direct Payment.

Direct Payments: This is a way you can get money from the Council if you are eligible. It is to help you pay for the care and support you need.

• Choose this to have more control over the services you use and where you get them from.
• You can spend this on any services that are legal, keep you safe/healthy and meet your eligible needs.
• We will pay the money into your bank or building society account.

Please note: Direct payments do not count as income and will not affect your benefits.

If you cannot make decisions for yourself

Someone, who is interested in your welfare, can support you. We will work with them to agree on how your identified outcomes should be met. We will do all we can to achieve this.

If you or someone you care for has learning disabilities

• Lead the Way. A community advice and support service for you and your carers.
• Calderdale Advocacy Service (Cloverleaf). A self-advocacy service to help you make decisions and express your concerns.

If you want to get a job, there are some ways we can help you. These includes:

• College Placements. 5-day support is available for people moving between children's and adults' services, in partnership with the local adult education provider.
• Supported Internships and Project Search in partnership with the NHS. This offers internships to young people in partnership with the local hospital. There are up to twelve internships each year in this well-established scheme that has provided successful employment opportunities for young people.

We can support you to find accommodation and to be as independent as possible.

There is a wide range of accommodation and support available, from independent apartments, to supported living and 24-hour support. We work with a wide range of housing and support providers to make sure that this can meet individuals' needs.

Short Breaks. These are available in a residential setting to give family carers a break and provide social opportunities. One of the short breaks services for people with a learning disability moved to a new location in 2023 that was re-developed to be accessible and adaptable. Breaks can range from a couple of days to a few weeks depending on your circumstances.

Please note: Direct payments can also be used if you wanted more flexible short breaks.

Outreach. This support is available to make sure that you can access social opportunities, especially in the evening and at weekends. There are several approved providers who can offer outreach support.

What if I, or someone I care for, have mental health needs?

There are various teams that are based in the community that can help you:

Community Mental Health Teams (CMHTs).

• CORE Team - low-level intensive input for people who need support for a short time.
• Enhanced Service - for people with longer-term needs or complex mental ill-health.

Home-Based Treatment Team. Treatment and support for people who are experiencing a mental health crisis in the community to help avoid a hospital admission. The Team also supports people discharged from hospital.

Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHP) Service. Gives input, advice and Mental Health Act assessments. These are needed after other services have been involved and:

• it is felt that you may not be able to make your own decisions (lack capacity);
• or for your own safety.

There are other services or we can see you at home and link you into activities taking place in your local area. These include:

Share. This is flats where you can stay to:

• relearn skills (this could be after a period in hospital);
• or have a short break to help avoid a relapse or support a carer.

There are also "crisis beds", an alternative to being admitted to hospital and staff are always on the premises.

Union Housing. Offers long-term supported accommodation if you are not able to live independently. There are 17 different properties that offer anything from:

• four people living together in a shared house with staff available on site 24 hours a day;
• to a person living on their own with staff visiting daily.

HOPE Recovery College. For a prospectus, visit: What can we help you with today? The prospectus has a list of courses available. Some of these courses are accessible to anyone in Calderdale and some accessible to just those people supported by mental health services. They are free of charge and they are co-produced with people who have lived experience of mental health needs.

Mental Health Vocational Team. The service can support with the skills you have and work with you to develop new ones that will help you get a job. The staff also support you to apply for jobs, help with interview skills and once you have a job help you to keep that job.

Do you care for a friend, relative or neighbour who would not be able to manage without this help? If so, we can:

• Put you in touch with other carers to offer mutual support.
• Give you information and advice.
• Tell you about services and support groups.
• Do an assessment of your needs.
• Help you set up an emergency back-up plan for the person you care for. (This is in case you are not available for some reason.)

Other organisations that can give specialist support include:

• Carer support for adults living in Calderdale. Specialist support for young adult carers aged 18 to 25.
• Age UK.

We also offer Carers’ Personal Budgets to eligible carers in order to meet your needs. For more about this, please contact our Gateway to Care Team.

There is a range of support groups and activities across Calderdale for carers. These provide social opportunities and a chance to meet other carers.

We work closely with our health and housing partners to make sure that any support you get is joined up. This is so you do not have to keep "telling your story".

Housing services

Heatherstones

This is a Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulated service. It provides temporary accommodation and reablement/therapeutic services if you have been discharged from hospital and:

• are homeless;
• or waiting for adaptations to your property.

There are 11 fully furnished apartments for adults of any age. There are three ground floor apartments fully accessible by wheelchair, two of these are double apartments so couples can stay or you can bring a carer. The remaining apartments are accessible via stairlifts.

This is not a 24-hour service, but each apartment has "telecare equipment", such as fall detectors and access to Progress Lifeline. There are good links with housing services in case you need help with re-housing or adjustments to your home.

Health services

Quest for Quality in Care Homes Service. This operates in 34 nursing and residential homes. It offers support from a team of professionals, such as nurses, pharmacists, consultants and support workers.

It helps residents and staff in a number of ways, such as saving the need to go to your GP.

This was set up to improve quality of care and make sure residents are supported to regain their maximum potential and mobility.

Care homes that are part of Quest can also support people through assistive technology with:

• Telehealth. Monitoring of vital signs (blood pressure, weight, temperature and oxygen).
• Telemonitoring. Out-of-hours video triage. This lets residents have a Skype consultation with a senior clinician if advice/diagnosis is needed out of hours.
• Enhanced Health in Care Homes. Provides access to health care support, directly into the care home.

Support outside office hours

• Emergency Duty Team. If you become concerned in the evening or at the weekend, phone: 01422 288000.
• Hospital Avoidance Team. Aims to offer support seven days per week from 9am to 5pm at Calderdale Royal Hospital, phone: 01422 222220.

We want to support you to live the life you want, but sometimes things go wrong. At these times, we need to make sure that:

• you are not harmed in any way;
• and the support we give or commission is good quality and safe.

What is safeguarding?

It means protecting your right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect.

It is about working together to support you to make decisions about the risks you face in your life. Also, protecting you if you are not able to make decisions for yourself. For example:

• Preventing safeguarding issues happening in the first place or intervening early to stop things getting worse.
• Setting up a Protection Plan to deal with situations where there is risk of abuse or where abuse may have happened.
• Making sure that you are not deprived of your liberty without the proper safeguards being in place. (Please see: Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty below).
• Monitoring to make sure provision of services are good quality.
• Raising awareness on types of abuse and how safeguarding can help.

In Calderdale, we:

• Always promote your well-being during any safeguarding arrangements.
• Support you to share with us your understanding of safety and how best to identify and achieve your outcomes.

Positive risk-taking

We will support you to take positive risks to enhance your life chances. However, we do make sure people understand the positive and negative outcomes of risk. At times, this means supporting people whose choices may be seen as unwise.

The law says that professionals and other staff should not think that they know best by making people safe without taking account of individual well-being. For more about this, visit: Section 14.8 Care Act - Statutory Guidance (GOV.UK).

Here are some examples of how we would work with people to make sure they are safe in a way that supports their wishes.

Ways in which we make sure that people are safe

The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) Team

The law says that no-one should be deprived of their liberty unless this has been done properly and that they have access to a right of appeal. Anybody who has a high level of care and supervision could be deprived of their liberty in any setting. At home, in a care home/hospital or in supported living.

DoLS is a process that we can use to help people living in hospitals and care/nursing homes.

The team:

• Helps you if you cannot make decisions for yourself because you lack the “mental capacity” to decide where to live and how to be cared for.
• Makes sure that any deprivation of liberty is lawful by completing an independent assessment.
• Makes sure that anybody in a care home/hospital who does not have the mental capacity to agree to be there has a representative. Using paid representatives if needed.
• Makes sure that any care and support is not more restrictive than it needs to be to keep you safe from harm.

For more about this, visit:

• Mental Capacity Act Code of Practice Guidance.
• The Mental Capacity Act (MCA).
• Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS) at a glance.

Making sure that services are of good quality and provided safely

Care Quality Commission (CQC)

The CQC monitors, inspects and regulates care services that we provide or buy from other providers. It visits all regulated care providers and gives a quality rating.

The CQC makes sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and they, along with the council, encourage care services to improve. These cover:

• Nursing homes.
• Residential care homes.
• Domiciliary care providers.
• Other services in the area.

For the latest regulated services quality ratings in Calderdale services or other parts of the country, visit: Care Quality Commission.

Calderdale Council Quality Team

This team makes sure that registered social care providers meet the quality standards in our Integrated Quality Strategy and Quality Assurance Framework (2024-2028). The framework describes how we work with partner organisations to make sure care and support services are of a good quality and meet the needs of people who draw on care and support and that any provider risk is minimised.

Our approach to quality assurance monitoring is undertaken in conjunction with care providers and support is tailored to each organisation’s requirements. The Quality Team assess providers’ quality through visits and if necessary support the provider to implement an action plan to address any identified areas for development. 

Comparing our performance with other councils

We do this each quarter with other councils in Yorkshire and Humber and each year with regional and national averages. For more about this, see: Appendix 1 below.

Performance monitoring

We review our performance at our monthly Assurance Board Meetings and where there are areas that we need to improve we set up a story card. This gives us an overview of progress, compares our performance to other councils and describes whether the actions that we are taking are helping to achieve better outcomes for people.

Learning from complaints

We value feedback about the care and support we provide or arrange for you. We recognise that sometimes things 'go wrong' and are committed to addressing any issues that subsequently arise.

In the 2023/24 period, we received and investigated 56 complaints (up from 51 in 2022/23).

The resolution times for these were:

• 0 to 15 days: 11.
• 16 to 30 days: 27.
• 31 to 44 days: 9.
• 45 or more days: 9.

To make sure we continue to improve, we have a process where we track and analyse the learning to from complaints to try and get the best resolution and prevent a re-occurrence. An area we get the most complaints about is financial advice and timeliness of financial assessment. To help address this we have redesigned our Care Act assessment process and financial assessment process including an online financial assessment called BetterCare and employed more people in the team so that financial assessments can be done more quickly. 

Our top priorities for next year

1. Support you by recognising and building on your strengths.
2. Help you to be better connected in your community and networks.
3. Promote your independence at (or closer to) your home.
4. Maximise the use of assistive digital technology to improve your life.
5. Improve your health and well-being and tackle inequalities.
6. Plan and deliver services jointly with you.

Advocacy. Where somebody helps you to express your needs. An advocate would support you or someone you know, to get the social care and support that you might need and they would make sure that your rights are protected.

Assessment. Where a social worker or occupational therapist will have a conversation with you about any social care that you might need.

Care Act (2014). The most recent piece of legislation that councils need to comply with when assessing your needs.

Care Quality Commission (CQC). Monitors, inspects and regulates care services that the council provides or buys from other providers.

Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Currently applies to people living in hospitals, care homes and nursing homes. The law says that no one should be deprived of their liberty unless this has been done through a process prescribed by law and that they have access to a right of appeal.

Direct Payment. Where the actual money from your Personal Budget is paid to you directly or to someone acting on your behalf, for the cost of arranging all or part of your social care support.

Emergency Duty team. The team that works during the night and at weekends and deals with social care emergencies relating to adults and children. The contact number is 01422 288000.

Extra Care. A group of specially designed apartments which encourage you to be independent. A team based on-site, delivers care and support if you need it, this can be 24 hours. Communal areas also give opportunities to enjoy social activities together, but you still have the privacy of your own apartment.

Gateway to Care. Our information and advice centre. It is a team of Social Care Advisors, Clinical Advisors, Occupational Therapists and Social Workers who can provide you with the information and advice you need to make good decisions about social care.

Lead The Way. An online community advice and support service for adults with learning disabilities or their carers.

Mental Capacity. The ability to make decisions about things like where you live or how you spend your money. The Mental Capacity Act (2005) is there to make sure that people who cannot make these decisions are protected.

Nursing Care. A 24-hour care home where there is always a qualified nurse on duty.

Peer Support. Where support is provided by someone that has had a similar experience to yours.

Personalisation. A way of thinking about care and support services that puts you in control. You say what your needs are and how you would like to have them met. Rather than social care services or providers making assumptions about this.

Personal Budget. The amount of money that is allocated to you by the council to pay for care and support to meet your assessed needs; it gives you much more control in arranging social care to suit your needs.

Pivotal. A round shaped medication prompt dispenser. It is an automatic pill dispenser which reminds you, by means of an alarm and flashing light, when to take your medication. It will make the correct dose available at the correct time of day or night, while keeping other pills locked out of sight.

Reablement. Support that is provided in situations where:

• you might have poor physical or mental health:
• or after a fall or a stroke, to help you to adjust to your situation by learning;
• or re-learning the skills necessary for daily living and to help you to do as much for yourself as possible.

Residential Care. A 24-hour care home that provides help with personal care. There are no nurses available at these homes unlike nursing homes.

Safeguarding. This applies to you if you or someone that you care for:

• Has care and support needs;
• and is experiencing (or is at risk of) abuse or neglect;
• and is unable to protect themselves from either the risk of (or the experience of abuse or neglect) because of those needs.

Social Care. A range of support and advice available from us or other organisations that we can put you in touch with. This is so you can continue to care for yourself, stay safe and live life the way you always have.

Telecare or Assistive Technology. Equipment that helps you to remain safe and independent, in your home, by making links to a monitoring or control centre that can respond to problems as they occur. You press a button on a pendant worn around your neck which alerts someone at the control centre. For example, you need help in an emergency, had a fall, a flood, fire or gas leak. The people in the monitoring centre are trained operators who will arrange for somebody to come and check or alert the emergency services if necessary.

Well-being Plan. A document that you get after an assessment. It sets out the detail of your desired outcomes and how they will be achieved.

Asking people who draw on care and support what they think

From the 2022/23 annual national survey called "The Adult Social Care All User Survey, we found out that:

• The percentage of service users who felt that they had control over their daily life increased for the second year in a row to 80.6%.
• Social contact perception improved for service users to 45.5%, from 40.8% in 2021/22.
• Overall satisfaction with social care support stayed broadly the same at 67%, it was 67.3% in 2021/22.
• A higher proportion of service users were able to find out information about services, rising to 73.1% from 67.6% in 2021/2022.
• Service users who reported feeling safe as a result of getting social care improved to 90.3%, from 88.6% in 2021/22.

Comparing how well we do with other councils regionally and nationally

Each year we send in reports to Government about how well we are doing. Some of this data is included in the national Adult Social Care Outcomes Framework or ASCOF. This is a list of indicators that we can use to compare our performance to other areas or to the national average.

We compare our performance against a group of 16 statistical neighbour local authorities. These are the areas most like Calderdale in relation to their population size and levels of deprivation. In 2022/23, 19 of the ASCOF indicators were reported.

Our performance ranked in the top three for the following five indicators:

• Proportion of carers receiving self-directed support (100%).
• Proportion of carers who receive direct payments (100%).
• Proportion of adults with learning disabilities who live in their own home or with their family (92.3%)
• Proportion of people who use services who find it easy to find information about services (73.1%)
• Proportion of people who use services who say that those services have made them feel safe and secure (90.3%)

Our performance ranked in the bottom three for the following indicator:

• Proportion of adults in contact with secondary mental health services in paid employment (4%)

For more about our performance, visit: The Adult Social Care Framework (DataWorks).

We monitor our performance regularly and where there are areas that we need to improve we set up a story card. This gives us an overview of progress, compares our performance to other councils and describes whether the actions that we are taking are helping to achieve better outcomes for people.

Sharing our ideas with other councils and learning from them

The main purpose of the Sector Led Improvement (SLI) group is to work together to make sure that all the councils in Yorkshire and Humberside are providing good quality care and support to people who need it, by improving performance, sharing ideas and providing support to each other when needed. Some examples are:

• We continue to host the Yorkshire and Humber region on a Risk and Performance dashboard. We also facilitate the quarterly reporting process to help the 15 Directors of Adult Social Care see the things that need to be addressed regionally and be able to support each other.
• We are part of the Yorkshire Urban and Rural Social Work Teaching Partnership (YURSWTP). The partnership comprises of Kirklees, York and North Yorkshire councils, two NHS trusts and Huddersfield and York universities. It fosters the sharing of good practice to help ensure that social work students are well supported, confident and able to practice safely and have a person-centred focus in their placements. The partnership also helps to ensure consistency of approach as well as confidence in practice educators’ abilities in supporting social work students to work safely and to meet people’s outcomes.

How much the council spends on social care support

In 2022/23 we spent £114.1 million on social care services. Every year we have financial pressures, but we managed to stay within our budget, making sure people got the right service (demand management), though we did get some extra money from the Government and the Council.

We provide 30% of all the social care support in Calderdale, internally and 85% of our total spend was on care and 15% was on staffing costs.

In 2022/23 Calderdale Council, as a whole, had to save £7.3million. This includes the additional savings agreed at Budget Council in 2017, 2018 and 2019. The additional savings for 2020/21 are £2.1M followed by a further £2.5M in 2021/22. (The figures are incremental to 2019/20). This is going to be very difficult for us due to uncertainties around Government funding in future years.

The tables below show how the money we spent was broken down by:

• Type of support provided (Table 1).
• Primary reason why people came to us for support (Table 2).
• Type of care provided (Table 3).

Note: Some of the tables below include spend on staffing, so the totals are not the same in them all.

2022/23 Gross Expenditure (per Non-SALT Return on ASC-FR)

(Table 1: Spend by category of support.)

Expenditure by Primary Reason for Support

(Table 2: Spend by primary reasons for support.)

Expenditure by Type of Care

(Table 3: Spend by type of care.)