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How To Find Out About Your Rights

It is important that you are aware of your rights as a carer, and the rights of the person you care for, otherwise you will have no way of knowing whether you are receiving all the services to which you are entitled. An awareness of your rights will also be an advantage in case you need to pursue a complaint.

Legal Rights for Carers

As a result of various Acts of Parliament carers' rights have been legally established:

You can find more detailed information about these and other Acts from the following:

Directgov
www.direct.gov.uk

This government website includes sections for disabled people and carers.

The Office of Public Sector Information
www.opsi.gov.uk

The Office of Public Sector Information provides online access to UK legislation. You can also purchase all parliamentary publications from the Stationery Office (Tel: 08760 600 5522).

Registering a Disability

Local authorities do not have to hold a register of disabled adults. However, adults who are blind or visually impaired can be registered with Croydon Council if their consultant ophthalmologist completes and signs a certificate of visual impairment. If the person is not already attending an eye hospital or clinic they should ask their GP to refer them. Local authorities however have a legal duty to hold a register of disabled children up to the age of 18 to help them plan for services. The Croydon Register for Children and Young People with Disabilities is held by Register Services.

Register Services
Tel: 020 8770 8237                   www.i-count.org

Parent carers can contact Register Services directly and place their child's name on the register. Registration enables you to receive regular mailings and an I-Count Card; which gives concessions at various venues. Register Services also manage Caspar, an additional register of children and young people under the age of 18 who have an autistic spectrum disorder.

Assessments for the Cared for Person

If the person you care for needs help to manage at home, assistance may be available from Social Services. This is called Community Care. Social Services has a legal duty to assess the needs of children and adults who are sick and disabled if they think a person may need community care services. These assessments will be conducted by a care manager or social worker and will take place in the home of the cared for person. If the assessment shows that help is needed, Social Services should arrange for this help to be provided, either from their own department or elsewhere.

Carer's Assessments

Carers have a legal right to an assessment of their own needs. If you are over 16 and caring for someone for over 35 hours a week, who is eligible for community care services, you are entitled to request a Carer's Assessment from Social Services. If the Carer's Assessment shows that help is needed, Social Services can provide a carers' service such as a regular break from caring. This should be detailed in a Care Plan. If you are not happy with what has been decided you can challenge this via the Social Services complaints system (see Complaints). If you live in a different area from the person you care for, it will be the cared for person's local authority, not yours, that will be responsible for undertaking a carer's assessment and providing a carers service. If the person you are caring for is in hospital, you should make your request for a carer's assessment to the hospital staff.

To request an assessment of the person you care for and/or a carer's assessment you should contact Croydon Social Services on 020 8726 6000. In addition, there are other organisations that can carry out a carer's assessment, in partnership with Croydon Social Services:

Carers UK
Tel: 0808 808 7777                   www.carersuk.org.uk

Carers UK publishes a range of free guides for carers, including How Do I Get Help? Carer's Assessments Made Clear.

Contact a Family (CaF)
Tel: 0808 808 3555                   www.cafamily.org.uk  

CaF publishes a range of free factsheets for parent carers, including A Guide to Assessments and Services in England and Wales .

Croydon Council

www.croydon.gov.uk/socialcare/carers

Croydon Council maintain a webpage: Information for Carers, that has a section on Carers Assessments.

Charging for Services

There is no charge for an assessment but Social Services can charge for community care services for the disabled person as well as for services to carers. Disabled adults requiring community care services will be asked to complete a financial assessment form. The spouse/partner is not under any obligation to provide details of their own finances as part of this (unless residential care is needed). If carers are to be charged for services provided directly to them there may be a separate financial assessment. Costs vary according to financial circumstances and benefits may be taken into account. There are no national guidelines on charging, but they must be 'reasonable' and nobody should be caused hardship or denied a service they need because they cannot pay. If you, or the person you care for, are not happy with charges that are being made, you can ask for a review of the charges. If you do not pay, the Council can take legal action to recover the debt, but it cannot stop providing the service.

Croydon Council Charging Policy Helpline
Tel 020 8760 5676 www.croydon.gov.uk

Croydon Council has a charging policy helpline, which can provide information on the level of charges you might be expected to pay.

Independent Living Funds (ILF)
Tel: 0845 601 8815                   www.ilf.org.uk   

The ILF are financed by the government. If your needs, or those of the person you care for, have not been fully met, it may be possible for Social Services to refer your case to the ILF. This can help pay for personal and domestic care for people aged 16 to 65 with very severe disabilities who meet certain criteria.

Direct Payments

Social Services may arrange help for you and/or the person care for from their own department or from other organisations. Alternatively, they can arrange for you or the person you care for to have direct payments. This means that you are given the money to make your own arrangements for the services required. You can have a direct payment as well as help from elsewhere.

Croydon Council is obliged to offer you and the person you care for the option of direct payments at the time of your assessments(s). If you have already been assessed and are receiving services form Social Services you can request that your services are converted into direct payments.  

Direct Payment Support Service
Tel: 020 8664 3820                www.disabilitycroydon.org.uk  

The Direct Payment Support Service provides advice, information, training and support to anyone thinking about or currently receiving a direct payment.

Complaints

If it becomes necessary to make a formal complaint, you should obtain a copy of the service or organisation's complaints procedure beforehand, so that you know what to expect, who to contact and the time limits within which you can complain. Remember to keep copies of all correspondence and to make a note of all phone calls. Complaining can be a difficult process, so we have listed organisations at the end of this section who can act as advocates or advise you of your rights.  

National Health Service (NHS) Complaints

If your complaint is about health services, the Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) will try and help to resolve your issues before it becomes necessary to make a formal complaint. See How To Find Out About Health Care Services for details of local PALS offices. You can also seek the help of a conciliator from Croydon Primary Care Trust (PCT) who can help both sides to talk through the complaint. If this has not helped resolve your concerns you will need to make a formal complaint to the Complaints Team at Croydon Primary Care Trust (Tel: 020 8274 6148).

If you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, you can ask for an independent review of your case by the Healthcare Commission (Tel: 0845 601 3012 or go to www.healthcarecommission.org.uk). If this request is agreed a Review Panel, chaired by an independent person, will investigate and report on your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an independent review, or your request for a review is turned down, you can ask the Health Service Ombudsman to investigate your case (Tel: 0845 015 4033 or go to www.ombudsman.org.uk).  

Social Services Complaints

You can make a complaint about any aspect of the services provided by Croydon Social Services, whether it concerns the quality of the service or a refusal of entitlement to support. To make a complaint contact Croydon Council on 020 8726 6000 and request a complaint form.  

If your complaint has not been satisfactorily resolved, you can complain to the Local Government Ombudsman (Tel: 0845 602 1983 or go to www.lgo.org.uk). The ombudsman can only investigate complaints where there has been 'maladministration' such as unreasonable delay, or failure to follow proper procedures. You can also write to the High Court for a Judicial Review if you think Croydon Social Services have acted unlawfully. You will need expert legal advice before taking this action (see Legal Advice).

The Department of Health and Department for Education and Skills are currently reviewing the policy and procedure for complaining about social care services. Further information about planned changes can be found on the Commission for Social Care Inspection website at www.csci.org.uk or call 020 8256 6430.

Voluntary or Community Organisation Complaints

Most voluntary or community organisations will have a complaints procedure, although this is not a legal requirement. If the organisation is local to you, they will probably have a Management Committee, in which case you can write to the Chairperson with your complaint. If the organisation is a branch of a national charity, you can write to the Chief Executive with your concerns.

Equal Opportunities and Discrimination

For information about issues concerning:

Racial discrimination, contact the Commission for Racial Equality on 020 7934 000 or see www.cre.gov.uk.

Homophobia, contact Stonewall on 08000 50 20 50 or see www.stonewall.org.uk

Sex discrimination, contact the Equal Opportunities Commission on 0845 601 5901 or see www.eoc.org.uk.  

Disability discrimination, contact the Disability Rights Commission on 08457 622 633 or see www.drc-gb.org.

Help to Make a Complaint

New Addington Citizens Advice Bureau
Tel: 01689 846890 www.croydoncab.org.uk and www.adviceguide.org.uk

Thornton Heath Citizens Advice Bureau
Tel: 020 8684 2236 www.croydoncab.org.uk and www.adviceguide.org.uk

The CAB provides free, confidential advice and information on a wide range of issues, including debt, welfare benefits, employment, consumer rights, housing and relationships. The CAB offices in New Addington and Thornton Heath offer one-off advice or ongoing casework, depending on the complexity of your query. Both offices operate drop in sessions, appointments, telephone and postal advice. Thornton Heath CAB also has specialist services for clients with HIV/AIDS and their carers.

Croydon Community Mediation
Tel: 020 8255 2464                   www.croydonmediation.org.uk   

If you are in dispute with someone, a trained volunteer mediator can listen and talk to each side separately and then arrange a joint meeting to enable both sides to find their own solution. There is sometimes a charge for this service, but concessions can be made for people on low incomes. Self-referrals can be made, but must be from both parties.  

Croydon Council

www.croydon.gov.uk/socialcare/carers

Croydon Council maintain a webpage: Information for Carers, that has a section on advocacy.

Disability Croydon
Tel: 020 8684 5538                   www.disabilitycroydon.org.uk

Disability Croydon has an advocacy service for adults aged 18 to 64 who have a physical disability or sensory impairment. Advocates can help with complaints.

The Independent Complaints Advocacy Service (ICAS)
Tel: 0845 337 3063                  www.pohwer.net.  

ICAS offers advice and support to patients wishing to make a formal complaint about NHS services. The service is free and independent of the NHS and can help you to write letters and attend meetings. ICAS is managed by the advocacy agency, POhWER.

Local Councillors and Members of Parliament (MPs)
Tel: 020 8726 6000                   www.croydon.gov.uk  

MPs and local councillors can sometimes help with complaints. Croydon Council can give you the name and contact details of the MP and councillors for your area. Each will have a surgery time when you can visit them in person and talk about the help you need.

Legal Advice

Age Concern Croydon
Tel: 020 8680 5450                  www.ageconcerncroydon.org.uk

Age Concern Croydon can provide a list of local solicitors.

Croydon and Sutton Law Centre (SWLLC)
Tel: 020 8667 9226                   www.lawcentres.org.uk

Croydon and Sutton Law Centre provides solicitors who can help with housing, employment, welfare benefits and equalities issues. Legal advice is means tested.

Community Legal Service Direct (CLSD)
Tel: 0845 345 4 345                  www.clsdirect.org.uk

The CLSD provides legal advice and information. You can get free initial advice from a qualified legal adviser about benefits and tax credits, debt, education, housing or employment. The service can also help you find a quality local legal adviser or solicitor.

Disability Law Service
Tel: 020 7791 9800                       www.dls.org.uk

The Disability Law Service provides confidential and free legal advice for disabled adults, their families and carers. It specialises in community care, wills and trusts, employment, education, welfare benefits, disability discrimination and consumer contract.

Law Society
Tel: 020 7242 1222         www.lawsociety.org.uk

The Law Society can help you find a solicitor and advise on how to make complaints about solicitors. The Law Society does not offer legal advice.

The Children's Legal Centre
Tel: 0845 345 4345                   www.childrenslegalcentre.com

The Children's Legal Centre provides free legal advice about educational matters for children, their carers and professionals throughout the UK. Representation can only be provided to those on a low income.

Written and compiled by the Carers' Information Service. If you notice any errors or omissions, or have any comments to make, please contact the Carers' Information Service on 020 8649 9339 or email us at info@carerscontactline.co.uk