Referrals - Policy & Procedures

Initial Enquiries

• Any enquiries about vacancies and placements within the Organisation should be referred to Head Office to deal with the enquiry and together with the Operations Manager will allocate the appropriate Home Manager/Senior to carry out the referral assessment.
• The enquiry will be entered onto the database by the Referrals Coordinator and will include any relevant information known at that time.
• If the Referrals Coordinator is assured that the person being referred has a primary diagnoses of learning disability/autism they will make the decision whether they feel able to proceed with the referral.
• If the referral has come from someone other than a representative of the purchasing authority then further enquiries need to be made as to whether the person in question is in receipt of a Personal Budget. If not, then it should be made clear to the person making the enquiry that Care Expertise must receive a formal referral from the funding authority before proceeding.
• After discussion with Directors and/or Operations Manager, the Referrals Coordinator will send information about Care Expertise and current vacancies to interested parties.
• The Referrals Coordinator will discuss each current referral on the database with the Operations Manager on a regular basis.

Assessment

• The Referrals Coordinator will make initial contact with the Care Manager to make initial arrangements to assess the potential service user and will request a copy of the person’s Community Care Assessment and current Care Plan/Reports (where applicable) from the Care Manager.
• The information obtained will be forwarded to the identified assessors together with some reference as to the type of placement requirement. Any further arrangements to conduct placement visits and changes to assessment dates will be carried out by assessors and not the Referrals Coordinators.
• If the individual is being assessed for a particular home the relevant Home Manager will be expected to be involved at this stage. Assessment may be carried out jointly in one visit or the Home Manager may prefer to gather further information to inform the assessment process separately.
• The identified assessors will assess the individual using the Care Expertise standard assessment document, ensuring they gather in-depth information from all relevant people involved in the persons care, including family members, current providers, school/college tutors, advocates and the Care Manager etc. They will also ensure they spend time with the individual concerned and where possible gain their views.
• All relevant documentation relating to the individual should be requested at this time. This should include; current care plans, risk assessments, behavioural guidelines, records of accidents and incidents and any professional reports. This information will be used by the Assessors when completing their assessment and will be shared with the Home Manager.
• The completed referral assessment will be forwarded to be checked through by the Referrals Coordinator (in the first instance) or in his/her absence the Operations Manager within 48 hours of the assessment date. In the event a decision has been made to offer a placement then a copy will also be forwarded to the Chief Finance Officer for costing.
• As a matter of professional courtesy, the Referrals Coordinator (in the first instance) or in his/her absence the Operations Manager will liaise with the Care Manager to enquire and discuss about envisaged support/care required including one-to-one hours and advise him/her of the assessed one-to-one hours to ensure consistency between both parties.

Offer of Placement

• If the decision is made to offer a placement arrangements will be made for the individual, Care Manager and relevant others to visit the home and meet with the Manager. During this initial visit the Home Manager will ensure the individual receives a copy of the brochure with the appropriate leaflets.
• The Home Manager should ensure that all visitors are warmly welcomed and that the vacant bedroom is; clean, tidy and immediately habitable.
• The Home Manager should ensure that all staff and service users (where appropriate) are made aware of the details of the visit.
• The Referrals Coordinator will then send a letter offering a placement, together with a fee quote, which will include the agreed amount of 1:1 support and the completed assessment to the Care Manager once it receives final approval from the Operations Manger (in the first instance) or in his/her absence the Finance Director. This will be sent to interested parties within 72 hours of the assessment being conducted.
• The Referrals Coordinator will ensure that the database is kept updated throughout this process and once a panel date or funding approval meeting date is known this will also be entered.
• When funding is agreed the Referrals Coordinator should ensure that the purchasing authority, confirm their acceptance and financial responsibility of the placement. This must be confirmed in writing.
• It will be the Chief Finance Officer’s responsibility to ensure relevant invoicing information (i.e Purchase Order Number) is sent/obtained from the purchasing authority.
• The decision to offer a placement within a Care Expertise service will be jointly made by the Home Manager, Operations Manager and Directors. If a decision is made that there are no suitable vacancies within the Organisation the Referrals Coordinator will let the referring authority and relevant others know as soon as possible and offer a clear explanation.

Emergency Referrals

Care Expertise does accept emergency referrals as Care Expertise recognises that situations sometimes arise which make rapid action necessary.

In these instances all Care Expertise employees should be guided by the spirit of the procedures governing planned admissions and gather and supply all necessary information as soon as possible in as diligent and thorough a manner as possible.