Hi all,
We were due to have our assessment yesterday but only one person from the mdt showed up.
Apparently they can do this and then share it with the other person. According to the framework it states 2.
This was the first time of meeting them
Just wondering if anyone else has had this?
CHC is a minefield. I thought that my wife was having an assessment, but it wasn’t, it was an interview to see if she qualified for an assessment - done via a type of Zoom meeting, by one person.
Hi Nigel,
For a “normal” assessment (i.e. not a fast track assessment - where the person is in a terminal phase) here are two parts to the assessment process:
First, is the CHC checklist. This might have been what was completed with the one person. It is a simpler form with a lower threshold than the next step - the DST assessment. The purpose of this is to see whether a person has needs that should be assessed by a full DST.
Second is the DST (Decision Support Tool) assessment. This should certainly not be completed by 1 person at a time. It should be a collaborative meeting between the professionals (at least 2) and the person concerned and/or their representatives.
The descriptions of needs in the checklist are lower than those of the DST, so my advice is that even before you do the checklist assessment look at the DST forms and describe each need category in the terms used in the DST rather than underplaying them to checklist levels. Although you may be told that getting a qualifying checklist is all that matters and needs can be better described later, the checklist descriptions are used as the starting point when looking at the DST so best to get all needs and highest levels recorded in this document.
Thanks for the info.
The checklist has been completed and we moved on to the dst assessment was the next part. I did think it was strange only one person came out.
If only 1 person came out to the DST then it has not been carried out properly - especially if neither person has any personal knowledge / experience of the person in question. There wasn’t a quorum for the DST to be undertaken, and/or an opportunity for the person / their representative to put their views to the full DST in a fully inclusive “person-centered” manner (as required).
There is also an obligation on the CCG to gather in all relevant medical notes, care plans, and other relevant records in advance (and share these ahead of the meeting if requested). This is frequently overlooked, and given only one person turned up I expect that was the case here.
Hello Nigel
I wanted to wish you a warm welcome to our forum and share with you some session information you might not be aware of.
We are currently running a series of online weekly meet ups for carers to get together and chat informally. Many people say they’ve found it really helpful and supportive and it’s nice to be able to take a little bit of time for yourself. There’s no pressure to share any more than you’re comfortable with. Join up details are here:
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/get-support/online-meetups
We are also running weekly Share and Learn sessions, they’re a series of fun and relaxed online sessions where visiting speakers who share tips and skills on a range of topics - please have a look at the link and see if one grabs your attention.
https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/get-support/share-and-learn-online-sessions
Do join if you’d like to, we’ve had a lot of new carers join the sessions recently and it’s a great way to meet other carers.
with best wishes
Ingrid