GP Information and Advice Provision Survey

Overview

The Care Act 2014 (effective from 1 April 2015) requires a universal information and advice service about care and support to be available in each area of England. There is a dependency on key partners in health to ensure this information and advice is available when, and where residents, need it.

This survey for GP practices is critical in understanding how information is currently being provided to residents in Surrey and the findings will help the local authority in focusing its efforts in implementing a universal information and advice service.

Your co-operation in completing this survey is essential, further reinforced by the legislative requirements referred to in the following introduction/context.

Why your views matter

Information and advice is fundamental to enabling people, carers and families to take control of, and make well-informed choices about, their care and support and how they fund it. Not only does information and advice help to promote people’s wellbeing by increasing their ability to exercise choice and control, it is also a vital component of preventing or delaying people’s need for care and support.

With the introduction of the Care Act local authorities must: “establish and maintain a service for providing people in its area with information and advice relating to care and support for adults and support for carers”.

The law states “The local authority must ensure that information and advice services established cover more than just basic information about care and support. The service should also address, prevention of care and support needs, finances, health, housing, employment, what to do in cases of abuse or neglect of an adult and other areas where required. In fulfilling this duty, local authorities should consider the people they are communicating with on a case by case basis, and seek to actively encourage them towards the types of information and/or advice that may be particularly relevant to them.

The law continues: “It is important to recognise that while local authorities must establish and maintain a service, it does not require they provide all elements of this service. Rather, under this duty local authorities are expected to understand, co-ordinate and make effective use of other statutory, voluntary and/or private sector information and advice resources available to people within their areas. This may also include provision of a service or parts of a service in conjunction with one or more local authorities, health services, children’s services, or reuse of information from other local or national sources. Information must be accessible in formats that meet the needs of the whole population.

Local authorities are responsible for ensuring that all adults in their area with a need for information and advice about care and support are able to access it. This is a very broad group, extending much further than people who have an immediate need for care or support. This is a very challenging expectation and can only be achieved with the co-operation of many organisations in the wider world of health and social care, preventative services, care providers, information providers and the voluntary,community and faith sector.