East Sussex Adult Social Care

Adult Social Care and Health is a department of East Sussex County Council that works with people aged 18 and over who live in East Sussex. East Sussex Adult Social Care aims to enable you to live the most healthy and independent life you can, for as long as you can. The department looks at your strengths, capabilities, wider support network and community, as well as the difficulties you’re experiencing, and works with you to find solutions.

There is a range of different ways Adult Social Care can work with people, for example:

• through information, advice and help to access community support;

• helping you access short-term solutions or support to prevent you having greater difficulties in the long term;

• subject to eligibility, providing some equipment or minor changes to your home to help to keep you safe and independent; and

• if you need ongoing support, you may wish to have a social care needs assessment. This is where Adult Social Care looks in more detail with you at your needs and strengths, to find out if you have eligible needs and what sort of social care support would help.

To confirm if you are eligible for support from Adult Social Care, ‘eligibility criteria’ set by the Government is used. To be eligible you must have care and support needs as a result of a physical impairment and/or a mental impairment and/or an illness which impacts at least two areas of your daily life and has a significant impact on your wellbeing.

For more information, see page 52, or you can read the East Sussex Adult Social Care leaflet ‘A Guide to Adult Social Care and Health’ or the factsheet ‘Who qualifies for our support’. You can find them at

eastsussex.gov.uk/factsheets

If your social care needs assessment shows that you have eligible needs, Adult Social Care will also complete a financial assessment with you, to tell you what you will need to pay. Most people pay some or all of the costs of their care. Even if you don’t have eligible social care needs, you’ll still receive information and recommendations about your options and support that could help you.

East Sussex Adult Social Care produces a range of leaflets and factsheets. You can find them at eastsussex.gov.uk/factsheets or ask Health and Social Care Connect for copies.

Leaflets

• ‘A guide to Adult Social Care and Health’

• ‘What you will need to pay towards the cost of your care and support’

• ‘How to make a complaint or give feedback about

Adult Social Care’

• ‘Do you look after someone?’

Factsheets

Factsheets are shorter than information leaflets and deal with specific topics relating to social care. Areas that factsheets cover include:

• who qualifies for our support;

• assessment, support planning and review;

• independent advocacy – someone to speak up for you;

• direct payments;

• going into residential care: your options if you own property (deferred payment scheme);

• a brief guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005; and

• what to do if you think someone is being abused, neglected or exploited.

All information leaflets and factsheets are available in translation or an alternative format (audio, Braille, etc.) upon request.

Contacting East Sussex Adult Social Care

You can visit eastsussex.gov.uk/social-care to learn more about local services, community and voluntary organisations that could support you and to find out