How can I get access to Swift?
Any new user requiring access to Swift must request this via their line manager. The line manager must do this by emailing the systems help line stating the name, designation, start date and team of the new starter.

I’m transferring to a different team. What do I need to do?
Your line manager should email the systems helpline with the name of the team you are transferring to and the date you are transferring. Your manager must ensure that any caseload you have is reallocated before Swift is updated with your new team.

I am working for more than one team. How does that affect my Swift access?
Systems can arrange for a separate log in for each team you work for. Your line manager should email the systems helpline stating which teams you need access for, together with your start date for each team.

I've forgotten my Swift password, what do I do?
You can reset your own Swift password via the Swift password reset icon on your PC desktop. Guidance on how to do this can be found in the ‘resetting Swift password’ crib sheet in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

If you do not have a Swift password reset icon, contact the systems helpline.

How often do I need to change my Swift password?
Every 30 days your password will expire and you will have to choose a new one. The following rules must be followed to ensure that your new password will be accepted:

• It must not be the same as any of the previous eight passwords used.
• Ensure you use a strong password i.e. use a minimum eight digit combination of letters, numbers and special characters. You should note that only the following special characters are allowable in Swift passwords:  ! $ - _ { }[ ] ~ # \ ? . ,
• Do not use a special character as the first character of your password.
• It cannot contain consecutive characters which are the same e.g. R#11NMLS, K!7SSYHT.

What address is recorded when a client goes into permanent residential or nursing care?
The residential/nursing home should be recorded with an address type of ‘care address.’ Leave the previous home address without an end date if the client is likely to visit their old home, for example where their spouse remains in the home, otherwise you can record an end date against the previous home address.

What do I do if the client has no fixed abode or where I don't know the address at time of referral?
It is important to record something as a client's address. Therefore, two fictitious addresses of ‘no fixed abode’ and ‘unknown’ have been set up in Swift. These addresses can be found by entering XXX in either of the postcode fields on the address search. This address must be changed once you find out what the client's actual address is.

What do I do if I can't find an address to attach to a client on Swift?
If you can't find an address, you will need to speak to admin in your office who are responsible for maintaining addresses. Give them the client's name or Swift ID, the address you are unable to find and the home telephone number of the client. They will then create the address for you and attach it to the client.

Most offices should have someone who has attended the Swift Gazetteer course. If there is no-one available in your office to set up the address, contact systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 and they will set it up for you.

What should I do if I find that a client appears to be recorded on Swift more than once?
It is very important that a thorough search is carried out before new clients are created in Swift to avoid the risk of duplicates. If you suspect that there is a duplicate record, please contact the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 to arrange for the records to be merged and the unwanted client record deleted.

Please note that if a client has had more than one address or other names recorded, the initial search in Frontdesk will return more than one result. In this instance, you can see the unique Swift IDs in the second column of the search results screen.

 

Why does a key team need to be recorded?
All open referrals must have a key team recorded on the involvements screen. The key team should be the team that is responsible for any costs of services the client is receiving. The key team's cost centre will default into the cost centre field against any services recorded in the costed packages Swift’s care module.

Why is there a financial agent recorded on the involvement screen?
This is because they are handling the client's financial affairs with regards to their charges for services. The involvement role of financial agent is currently being recorded on this screen by the finance section.

Should I leave the GP practice open when the case is closed?
No. An end date should be recorded against the GP practice when the case is closed. However, if the client is re-referred and the GP practice hasn't changed, you can just remove the end date rather than reinputting the GP practice. You must not remove the end date from any other involvement at re-referral. These will have to be reinput with the new start date.

How can I see a history of professionals and organisations involved with a case?
On accessing the involvements screen, only current involvements will display (those without end dates). If you wish to see a list of previous involvements, you will need to click on the ‘all’ button. As soon as an end date is input against an involvement, the involvement will disappear from the current view. You will then only be able to see this by clicking on the ‘all’ button.

How can I get a new organisation or professional recorded on Swift?
New organisations, such as GP surgeries and hospitals, or professionals, such as NTW consultants, can only be added by the systems support team. You should contact the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 to arrange this.
 

What is involvement based security?
Involvement based security is used in Swift to control user access to specific areas of a client's Swift record, currently contact notes and hazards screens.

Swift looks at which teams you are part of and restricts your access to contact notes and hazard screens for any client where you do not meet the criteria.

What are the criteria for involvement based security?
You will only be able to access contact notes and/or hazards for a client if you meet the following criteria:

• you are the key worker
• you are a member of the key worker's team
• you are a member of the key team
• you are recorded as an involved worker on the involvements screen
• you are a member of an additional involved team
• you are the team manager of an involved worker

How can I access contact notes and/or hazards if I don't meet the criteria?
You will need to record yourself as an ‘involvement’ on the involvement screen. Please remember to record an appropriate involvement role to explain why you require access to the record.

When should I end my involvement?
If you will not have ongoing involvement with the client, it is important to end your involvement when you have completed necessary work and no longer require access to the record.

I can't access the client's record to add myself as an involvement.
Make sure that you search for the client via Frontdesk before adding yourself as an involvement.

There is a procedure relating to recording hazards in Swift which advises staff on their responsibilities in relation to:

• recording hazards and highlighting violence and aggression alerts
• informing the client/relative/carer and sharing hazard information with other professionals
• reviewing, updating and ending hazards

Guidance on how to record a hazard on Swift can be found in the hazards crib sheet in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

Where can I go to find a summary of information about a client?
There is a case frontsheet report, which summarises certain information recorded in Swift about a client. As well as basic demographic details, the report gives information about relatives, current professional involvements, sensory impairments and details about costed services the client is receiving.

The case front sheet indicates if there is a current or historic hazard or safeguarding referral and also where further information is available from NTW's RiO client information system.
The report is available from the frontsheet, contacts, referrals or involvements screen. Click on ‘print’ at the bottom left of the screen and select ‘case frontsheet’ from the list of options. Click on ‘go'.

Where can I see a list of electronic Swift forms such as CSP1 and CSP2 for a client?
The catalogue bundle screen shows a list of all finalised electronic Swift forms such as:

• CSP1 and CSP2
• short term multidisciplinary baseline assessment forms
• safeguarding episode forms

The forms are all listed in datal order and from this screen you can view the form. Guidance on accessing the catalogue bundle can be found in the catalogue bundle crib sheet in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

How can I see the services a client is currently receiving?
The service diary report will allow you to see the community services a client is currently receiving in a diary sheet format. Go to the client’s Frontsheet screen within the Frontdesk module. Click on the ‘print’ button and select ‘service diary’ from the list of options. Click on ‘go'. The diary sheet for the client will appear on the screen.

The report does not show any residential or nursing stays or any cost attributed to independent personal budgets. The case frontsheet report summarises the services the client is receiving and the weekly cost of these services.

Is there a report where I can see the charges a client is paying for home care or short break care?
Yes, this is called ‘home care/short break charges'. You can view the letter that was sent to the client about the charge they will pay towards home care and short break care. Go to any screen within the Frontdesk module (frontsheet, contacts, referrals or involvements).

Click on the ‘print’ button and select the report entitled ‘home care/short break charges’ and click on ‘go'. A charge determinations screen will appear and you will need to click on the view letter button at the top left of the screen. The letter sent to the client outlining the charges will be displayed.

The case frontsheet report shows the charge the client has been assessed to pay.

How can I view information from NTW's RiO system in Swift?
Certain RiO information is available via a report in Swift for any service user where there is an involvement of an NTW professional recorded on Swift and information is being recorded on RiO.

To access the report, go to the client's contact notes screen and click on the ‘print’ button. Select the report entitled ‘client information from RiO’ and click on ‘go'.

 

Can I amend a note I have entered?
No. Once saved, a contact note can only be edited or deleted by a member of the systems support team. All amendments to contact notes made by systems support are logged for audit purposes.

Is there an easy way to search through a list of contact notes?
You can search through a list of contact notes using a search facility in Swift. For example, you may want to search for all contact notes recorded with a specific note type beginning with ‘CHC’ or all notes that have certain detail entered in the head line field.

To search for specific note types, press F7 on your keyboard which should turn the right hand part of the screen turquoise. Next, select the note type you would like to search on from the drop down list, then press F8 to view a list of contact notes matching your selection criteria.

The contact notes manual has guidance on how to carry out searches in contact notes. The manual can be found in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

I have a specialist involvement in a case and I want to be able to pick out the notes that I added myself, rather than have everything mixed up together.
Swift doesn't offer an automatic way of viewing only your own notes. You can, however, use the F7 and F8 functionality to search for your own notes.

First, begin a query by pressing F7 on your keyboard. Enter some characters from your surname surrounded by a % sign in the second ‘creator’ field at the bottom of the notes screen. Then, press F8 to execute the query. A list of all notes you have entered should now be displayed.

It's a problem writing long notes, since there is no way to save them unfinished and then go back to them.
We would advise that you type lengthy notes into Word, so that you can save as you go along. Once you have finished, you can copy and paste the text into a contact note in Swift.

Can I copy a contact note to a related person's record?
Yes but you can only do this if the person is recorded on the client's relationships screen. Once you have recorded and saved the note on the client's record, click on the copy button that appears at the bottom of the screen.

A list will appear of all people who are recorded on the client's relationships screen and you must tick the copy box against the person whose record you wish to copy the contact note to. Click on continue and you should then see a message that tells you the note has been successfully copied.

You should note that anything recorded in ‘further details’ of the contact notes screen, for example questionnaires, do not copy to the relative’s record and will need to be recorded manually.

How do I mark a contact note as a significant event?
When recording a contact note on Swift, tick the ‘significant event’ box before you save the note. When recording a contact note as a significant event, you must enter a headline in the ‘headline’ field, otherwise Swift will not allow you to save the note.

When a significant event contact note has been recorded by anyone other than the client's key worker, the key worker will receive a workflow job entitled ‘significant event'.

What should I do if I’m asked to record a contact note for a colleague?
Record the note as normal and then record the name of your colleague in the ‘creator’ field.

I’m involved with the client but I’m not the key worker. How can I be notified if any contact notes are recorded by other involved professionals?
If you add a role of ‘subscribed’ to your involvement in the ‘involvements’ screen, you will receive a workflow notification whenever another professional records a contact note for the client. The involvements crib sheet will give you guidance on how to subscribe to contact note workflows and can be found in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

How is a client needs assessment recorded?
Admin record a client needs assessment after an initial referral has been recorded. The assessment should be linked to the referral by selecting this from the drop down list in the ‘resulting from’ field.

The target start date of the assessment will be recorded as the same date as the referral and the target end date will initially be recorded as a fictitious date of 365 days ahead of the target start date.

This date should subsequently be changed by the care manager to reflect the actual date of the assessment. The care manager should then generate a CSP1 against the assessment.

I have carried out a review but I keep getting a Swift reminder to say that the review is due.
Swift will send a workflow reminder to the client's key worker for any review recorded on Swift that does not have a completion date.

If you have carried out this review and you want Swift to stop sending you the reminder, you will need to enter a completion date. Check that you have the date of the next review you wish to carry out for the client set up, then Swift will remind you when this review is due.
 

I have saved a CSP1 as a final version but I have made an error and I want to amend or add more information to the form. What can be done?
Contact the systems support helpline on 01670 622450. Final versions of the CSP1 can be reverted to a draft format by a member of the systems support team. You may be asked to explain why you require this change to be made to establish that this is the best course of action.

I have double clicked on the ‘SendSwiftForm’ icon but get a message that there are no emails to send.
It is possible that your network access may be incorrectly set up. Please contact the systems support helpline on 01670 622450 for further advice.

Can I leave my CSP1 in draft format?
The CSP1 can be saved as a draft as many times as you wish. However, all CSP1s should be saved as a final version as soon as possible.

My new CSP1 does not hold the details that I know existed in a previous CSP1.
Please contact the systems support helpline on 01670 622450 for further advice.
 

What should be recorded in Swift on receipt of a safeguarding adults notification?
For every safeguarding adult notification received, a contact note entitled ‘safeguarding adult concern notification’ must be recorded on Swift.

I have recorded a safeguarding adult concern notification contact note but I see an error message when I try to run the safeguarding episode form.
Safeguarding adult concern notification contact note types are not linked to the safeguarding episode form. You should record the safeguarding adult concern notification contact note and enter the relevant information in the note details field.

What should be recorded on Swift on receipt of a safeguarding adults referral?
A contact note entitled ‘safeguarding referral’ must be recorded on Swift, followed by the generating and completing the safeguarding episode form. The episode form should hold all of the information regarding the referral.

Once the safeguarding referral contact note has been recorded then any further safeguarding referral information should be recorded under the safeguarding referral form update contact note and then the episode form will need to be updated. If appropriate, the current status will change.

How do I generate the safeguarding episode form?
Record a contact note type of either ‘safeguarding referral’ or ‘safeguarding referral form update’ and save the note. Click on print at the bottom left of the screen. Click on the safeguarding episode form report option and then click on go. The episode form will need to be updated and, if appropriate, the current status changed.

What other information do I need to record in relation to a safeguarding case?
There are other safeguarding contact note types that can be used for recording safeguarding information. They are: ‘safeguarding referral form update’ and ‘safeguarding manager validation'. When either contact note is entered, the safeguarding episode form should then be generated and update with the information. The current status should also be updated, if appropriate, and then the form should be saved.
 

Can an unwanted provision be removed from Swift?
Please contact the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 and have the Swift ID of the client, details of the provision and start dates available. Systems will need to check with the finance team to ensure that no invoices or client charges have been raised against the provision that requires deletion.

If the provision has links to a financial assessment, or has had invoices or charges linked to it, the provision cannot be removed. Systems support will end the provision so that there is no cost to the budget.

Why do I have a workflow job called view a provision/provision amendment?
At times, a team manager may receive ‘view a provision’ and ‘view a provision amendment workflow jobs'. These jobs tend to arise when a case has been transferred from one team to another, where services have been previously paid for by a different team.

These jobs should be actioned in the same way as the authorise a provision/provision pmendment workflow jobs. However, if you have any difficulty in dealing with them please contact the systems support helpline on 01670 622450 for assistance.

How can access be given for one team manager to authorise provisions for another?
Systems support can set up named people to be a deputy for a team manager. To initiate this, first contact the systems support helpline on 01670 622 450. Once you have been created as a deputy, follow the guidance in the Swift workflow manual, which can be found in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.
 

How can I obtain a printout of all my cases and/or reviews?
To obtain a printed caseload list, go to Frontdesk and access the frontsheet screen. Carry out a search for the person whose caseload list you wish to retrieve and have their details displayed on the frontsheet screen. Click on the ‘print’ button at the bottom left of the screen and select ‘caseload list report’ and click on ‘go'. Select how you wish the report to display e.g. by review date, involvement start date and click on submit query.

How do I transfer a case in Swift?
If the case is transferring from one worker to another within the same team, the only change needed is to end the current key worker on the involvements screen and record the new key worker. Swift will automatically transfer any review reminders linked to the previous key worker to the new worker.

If the case is transferring from one key team to another, Swift will need to be updated to reflect the new key team/key worker on the involvements screen, the new cost centre paying for any services in the ‘costed packages of care’ module. The paper file location should also be updated to reflect the new location for the manual file.

For advice on what to do when transferring a case, contact the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 or refer to the Swift Frontdesk manual, which you will find in the Swift manuals and guidance section at the end of this page.

Can a workers entire caseload be transferred to another worker?
Please contact the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450 who can arrange a bulk transfer of cases to a new worker.
 

What is a CSP2?
A CSP2 is where you record the carer’s assessment.  You can do this in two ways.
The first way would be from the carer’s assessment screen by recording a carer’s needs assessment type, pressing print, then carer’s needs assessment bundle and go.  You will then be able to create and fill in this form, either through Swift or save it to bundle out onto your tablet to fill in. 

Alternatively, when you bundle out a client needs assessment for the client, a ‘manual’ carer’s needs
assessment form for the carer is also created within the bundle for you to fill in manually. However, this cannot be bundled back into Swift when it has been pulled through from the clients assessment bundle.

It must be entered manually via the carer’s assessment screen on the carer’s Swift record.  There is no way to bundle in a manual CSP2 into Swift.

How do I record that a person is a principal carer for a client?
Record the person who is the carer on the client's relationship screen within Frontsheet/ further details and enter the relationship of the person to the client. You will also need to click on the principal carer ‘yes’ field and the word ‘carer’ should be recorded as part of their telephone number so that this will appear in the header.

How do I record a carer's assessment?
When a carer's assessment is carried out, a contact note must be entered onto both the carer's and the client's record using a note type of ‘carer assessment completed'. You can copy the contact note from the carer's record to the client's record using the copy button at the bottom of the contact note screen.

The care manager should update the relevant questions within the CSP1 to reflect a carer’s assessment has been carried out and the date of the assessment.

Do I need to record if a carer does not wish to have an assessment?
If a carer does not want a full assessment, we recommend they contact Carers Northumberland (info on carers information sheet C4) for advice and support. Carers Northumberland can also advise people on whether they would benefit from a formal carer’s assessment. If a person is unsure, the best advice will often be that they should talk to Carers Northumberland first and then decide.

How do I record that a client doesn't have a known relative/carer?
Go to the client's relationship screen (via Frontdesk/further details), press F6 and carry out a search for Swift ID 272576. Swift will find a fictitious record named ‘no known relative/carer'. Enter a relationship of ‘unknown’ and click on save.

How do I record that a client has declined to give details about their relative/carer?
Go to the client's relationship screen (via Frontdesk/further details), press F6 and carry out a search for Swift ID 272577. Swift will find a fictitious record named ‘details withheld'. Enter a relationship of ‘unknown’ and click on save.

Assessments & Reviews	154 KB (.pdf)
Basic Use of Swift	278 KB (.pdf)
Budgets and Authorisations (for TM's)	220 KB (.pdf)
Contact Notes	213 KB (.pdf)
CPC	836 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Accessing RiO from Swift for EDT	123 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Accommodation Status	40 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Case Frontsheet	40 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Changing an Address	147 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - CHC Reviews on Swift	91 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Closing a Case Due to Death of Client	221 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Closing a Case	166 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Completing Reviews	92 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Contact Note	39 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Creating a Person	75 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Current Guidance - Recording Safeguarding Information on Swift	158 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Employment Status	57 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Ethnic Origin	59 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - GP Name	59 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Hazards	1 MB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Hospital to Home Swift Recording Procedure	34 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Housing OT Swift Recording Procedure	24 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Immediate Response Referrals	32 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Involvement Based Security	78 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Involvements	228 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Keystrokes in Swift	46 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Logging Into Swift for the First Time or After a Password Reset	69 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Resetting Swift Password	108 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Safeguarding Information	166 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Sensory Impairment Cases on Swift	36 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Service Diary	126 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Short Term Multidisciplinary Baseline Assessment Form (STSS1)	369 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - STSS Referrals and CAT Decisions	56 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Transferring a Client's Key Team	23 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Viewing Check Contact Note Workflow Jobs Crib Sheet	109 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Viewing Shared Care Provisions	136 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Workflow	222 KB (.pdf)
Crib-Sheet-CHC-Contact-Notes	27 KB (.pdf)
Financial Assessments	989 KB (.pdf)
Frontdesk	928 KB (.pdf)
Gazetteer	228 KB (.pdf)
Hospital-Discharge-Guidance	161 KB (.pdf)
Legal Status	96 KB (.pdf)
Maintaining Providers and Provisions	996 KB (.pdf)
Overview of Swift Recording Manual	1 MB (.pdf)
Paper File Location July 2006	66 KB (.pdf)
Person's Registrations	441 KB (.pdf)
Recording an Involvement of a Person or Worker.pdf	98 KB (.pdf)
Rehab Swift Recording Procedure.pdf	287 KB (.pdf)
Restarting the Clipboard.pdf	12 KB (.pdf)
Searching for Information using F7 and F8 Search.pdf	16 KB (.pdf)
SPA Contingency.pdf	114 KB (.pdf)
Standard Work - Recording Shared Care on Swift.pdf	186 KB (.pdf)
Swift Reports and Forms.pdf	244 KB (.pdf)
Viewing Providers and Provisions.pdf	233 KB (.pdf)
Workflow.pdf	298 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Admin Recording Short Breaks at Bebside Unit and Alan Shearer Centre.pdf
Crib Sheet - CHC Contact Notes.pdf
Crib Sheet – Community Support Worker.pdf
Crib Sheet - Deputising on Swift.pdf
Crib Sheet - Finance Recording Short Breaks at Bebside Unit.pdf
Crib Sheet - Catalogue Bundle.pdf

• Email: systemshelpline@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk
• Tel: 01670 622450

Helpline available:
Monday to Thursday 8:30am to 5pm 
Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm 

If the line is busy or you ring out of the above hours you may leave a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

What date should be recorded in the contact date field?
The date the referral was received, usually the day before the CAT meeting, should be entered.

If the case is to be allocated to both care and therapy, what should be recorded?
Where a case is allocated to both specialisms, you must only enter one referral. The outcome of the referral should reflect the lead specialism decided by the CAT. The involvements screen should be updated with the relevant STSS team and also the named professionals from both care and therapy.

What should I record if the CAT hasn't made a decision about who to allocate the case to?
If the CAT is unable to make an allocation decision until further information is received, you can record the referral and enter an outcome of ‘CAT: awaiting further information'. Once a decision is made, the outcome should be amended to reflect the decision made by the CAT.

What should be recorded as the first face to face contact if the client wasn’t seen?
If the client wasn’t seen by an STSS professional for whatever reason, the face to face contact date entered should be the date the client withdrew, died, was admitted to hospital etc. Failing that, enter the same date as the referral date.

How do I record that an STSS referral has been signposted?
When a referral is signposted to a service or organisation other than STSS or social care, record the referral on the contacts screen and enter an outcome of ‘inappropriate referral/not suitable for STSS'. A contact note should be entered with the details of where the referral has been signposted to.

When recording the ‘CAT: initial allocation decision’ contact note, what date should be recorded?
The date of the CAT meeting should be entered.

Should I record the STSS team as a key team?
If STSS is the only team involved, then it should be recorded as the key team on Swift. If there is a care management team involved, the care management team must be recorded as the key team and the STSS team must be entered as an additional involvement. Note that once the client begins receiving costed services, the key team must be the care management team responsible for the cost centre.

What start date should be entered in the involvements screen to record the involvement of the STSS team?
The date the case was allocated to the STSS team should be entered. This will usually be the same date as the CAT meeting.

Should I record the involvement of an STSS professional?
Yes, if there is an STSS professional allocated, then this involvement should be recorded on Swift. The STSS professional should only be ticked as a key worker if they are the only worker involved.

We've recorded an STSS professional on the involvements screen but the situation has changed and the professional will not be involved with the client. They have not had any contact with the client and the case is to be allocated to a different STSS professional. How should this be recorded on Swift?
Record an end date against the original STSS professional using the same date as the start date. Record the new STSS professional using the date they became involved with the client as the start date.

What do I record so that an STSS professional, who is not the key worker for the client, receives notifications about contact notes recorded for clients they are involved with?
On the involvements screen for the client, click on the STSS professional's involvement in the summary list on the left side. On the lower part of the screen, click in the involvement role field and select ‘subscribed’ from the list of options. Enter the involvement start date in the start date field. Click on save.

They will now receive a check contact note (subscription) workflow job when someone records a contact note against a client they are involved with. You can add this involvement role when you are allocating a case to an STSS professional who isn't going to be the key worker.

Where STSS are to provide a bridging service, the STSS referral, involvements and CAT initial allocation decision contact note should be recorded in line with the current procedure. A contact note type of ‘CAT: bridging support agreed’ must be recorded on Swift to reflect that STSS are providing this service.

How do I record STSS care hours?
There are two contact note questionnaires that can be used to record STSS care hours. One is for recording planned care provided, named ‘start hours (questionnaire in further details)'.

The other is for recording hours that were over and above a client's planned STSS care plan and is named ‘STSS variance hours (questionnaire in further details).’

How do I record half an hour or three quarters of an hour of care received?
Half an hour is recorded as 0.5 and three quarters of an hour is recorded as 0.75. Only numbers should be recorded, you should not enter any words.

I'm confused about what should be recorded in the care hours questionnaire.
The following example should hopefully provide clarification about recording detail in the ‘start hours (questionnaire in further details)'.

Where a client has received five hours of care each week for six weeks of STSS but does not require any hours after they leave STSS, the following should be recorded on Swift:

• week one= five hours
• ongoing care hours after last week=0
• total number of hours delivered= 30

When recording ongoing care hours, they should reflect hours arranged by social care and not privately arranged care by the client.

 

Where both care and therapy are involved but care is the lead specialism, should the rehab/therapy priority be entered against this referral?
Yes, the therapy priority should be recorded against the referral which shows that care is the lead specialism. The priority should be selected from the list of options from the reason field, either urgent (within two working days), priority (within five working days) or non-priority (within 18 weeks).

What date should be recorded as the start date for diagnosis?
This should be the date the client was referred to STSS and must be the same as the date entered in the contact date field on the contacts screen.

What date should be recorded as a start date for the intervention?
This should be the date the therapist first visited the client and may not be the same date as recorded in the out date field on the contacts screen.

How do I record that a client has started with the Falls Education Group?
This should be recorded in the contact notes module. There is a specific note type of ‘Falls Education Group started'. The date the invite letter was sent should be recorded as the date of the contact note and details about the group should be recorded in the note details field.

Can I record the results of a Tinetti assessment on Swift?
Yes. These should be recorded in the contact notes module. There are two note types entitled ‘Falls Tinetti balance assessment (record results in further details)’ and ‘Falls Tinetti gait assessment (record results in further details)'. Each note type has a questionnaire in further details which must be completed.

Tinetti assessments are carried out at the beginning and at the end of the intervention. Therefore, there should be two contact notes entered where a client has had a Tinetti assessment. For guidance, please refer to the link to the Swift STSS manuals folder at the bottom of this page, or you can ring the systems support helpline on (01670) 622 450.

How do I record where a client has been passed to a technical instructor in the north of the county?
In the north, technical instructors are not part of the STSS teams and are based in hospitals. The following should be entered when a case has been allocated to a TI in the north of the county:

• Record an STSS referral on the contacts screen with an outcome of ‘allocate to STSS therapy lead'.
• Record a contact note type of ‘CAT: initial allocation decision’ stating that the case is to be passed to a technical instructor.
• Record the involvement of the STSS team with a start and end date.
• Record a further contact note type of ‘CAT: end STSS - planned goals achieved’ and select ‘STSS ended - non res support arranged’ from the outcome field. 

The STSS referrals report can be run by clicking on the print button on any of the Swift Frontdesk screens and selecting STSS referrals from the list of reports available. You can sort the report by team, date and status, e.g. open or closed referrals.

If a COPM assessment has been carried out, this should be recorded on Swift. It is recorded against a contact note type of ‘COPM (record results in further details).’ As the note title suggests, details and scores are recorded on the screen that appears when you click on further details.

How do I record a closure?
The relevant CAT ended contact note must be recorded and the closure reason should be chosen from the list of options in the outcome field. Refer to STSS guidance in the Swift STSS manuals and guidance link at the bottom of this page.

Do not enter a ‘CAT: end STSS decision’ contact note if another element of STSS is still involved, for example care involvement is ending. However, therapy is remaining active. Instead, a ‘CAT: other discussion’ contact note should be recorded detailing that part of the STSS involvement has ended. An end date should be recorded against the STSS professional whose involvement has ended but the STSS team involvement should remain open if there are other STSS professionals involved.

If the client has had care during the period of involvement, care hours must be recorded in the care hours contact note questionnaire. If the client has had therapy involvement, then the diagnosis must be ended and additional information recorded relating to the intervention. If a Falls Tinetti assessment has been carried out at the end of the intervention, this should also be recorded.

What should be recorded if a client we have received a referral for does not get discharged from hospital?
Once it is established that the client will not be discharged from hospital, you will need to:

• Change the referral outcome on the contact screen to ‘remained in hospital.’
• Record a ‘CAT: other discussion’ contact note to outline that the client is not being discharged.
• End the involvement of the STSS team on the date it began.
• Enter the date you found out the person is to remain in hospital as the date of the face to face contact date in the ‘out. Date’ field on the contacts screen.

How do I record that a client has died?
When a client dies, you must record the date of death in the Frontdesk/frontsheet screen as soon as possible. You can then continue to close the case off by entering a ‘CAT: end STSS unplanned: goals not achieved’ contact note with an outcome of ‘STSS ended – Died,’ closing all involvements and recording any additional information required for care or therapy.

Crib Sheet - Contact Note.pdf	39 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - Short Term Multidisciplinary Baseline Assessment Form (STSS1).pdf	369 KB (.pdf)
Crib Sheet - STSS Referrals and CAT Decisions.pdf	42 KB (.pdf)
Guidance Sheet - Recording STSS Contact Note Outcomes July 14.pdf	7 KB (.pdf)

On this page you will find information about the system of monitoring quality of social care services we commission for vulnerable adults in Northumberland. The services are provided by a variety of organisations working in partnership with the full range of local health and social care services.

Building on previous quality monitoring in older people’s services, quality self-assessment and monitoring tools have been created by commissioning and contracting officers on behalf of the adult service and housing group of Northumberland County Council.

They have been specifically designed for providers of domiciliary and residential care, and supported living services for people with learning disabilities, mental health problems and day care services.

The tools have been developed in partnership with service users, advocates, carers and providers.

The tools form the basis of our annual provider self-assessment process, which help services reach agreed quality standards and demonstrate these achievements to commissioners. The quality standards reflect our local priorities, expectations of the Care Quality Commission and individual outcomes.

• Quality assurance self-assessment and monitoring (QASAM) tool (domiciliary services)
• Quality assurance self-assessment and monitoring (QASAM) tool (learning disability and mental health services)

The self-assessment tool for learning disability services was developed from a customer charter ‘how it should be’ and an outcomes framework, which incorporated policy guidance, legislation, best practice and the views of local service users and carers. These documents received approval at the Northumberland Learning Disability Partnership Board in April 2012.

The quality monitoring system is based on commissioners and providers having joint responsibility in working together to place human rights at the heart of commissioning and service delivery, and achieving the best standards of care and support possible.

While our quality monitoring system reflects our local priorities, it will enhance the regulatory process of the Care Quality Commission. The aims of the system are to help providers reach agreed quality standards and demonstrate these achievements to commissioners. Where standards fall short, the self-assessment process provides a clear framework for changes in order to improve standards and outcomes.

Within this process, the different self-assessment tools provide information about what quality standards and outcomes mean for individuals and the people supporting them. They offer suggestions of what, as a minimum, needs to be in place to make things work well, indicate good practice, and offer the scope for service providers to demonstrate their strengths and unique contributions to helping people meet their needs and fulfil their aspirations.

Our hope is providers who have found ways to support people in the best possible way, will be keen to share these approaches and contribute to quality care delivery across the county. Providers are required, using the tools, to undertake an annual self-assessment of their services against the agreed standards, although continual self-monitoring will be expected. Evidence will draw heavily on the customer experience, involvement and outcomes.

Completed assessments will be submitted to commissioning/contracting operational managers, resulting in monitoring and validation visits to talk to service users and carers, hear providers’ views of how well they meet the ambitions of their service users and verify evidence submitted.

Please contact:

• Carole Hadland: email: Carole.Hadland@northumberland.gov.uk Tel: 01670 622432
• Nicola Boughen: email: Nicola.Boughen@northumberland.gov.uk Tel: 01670 622446
• Alyson Purvis: email: Alyson.purvis@nothumberland.gov.uk Tel: 01670 620266 
• Sue Ward: email: Sue.ward@northumberland.gov.uk  Tel: 01670 622440
• Maureen Thompson: email: Maureen.Thompson01@northumberland.gov.uk Tel: 01670 622444
• Marshall Sisterson: email: Marshall.Sisterson@northumberland.gov.uk Tel: 01670 622443

We're expecting to change how this works in the next upgrade.
The reason was part two of the form is about needs rather than the plan for meeting them. There are two reasons why we have to make this distinction. One is that we should be encouraging people to take control of their care and support through a direct payment – and we shouldn't be prescribing in detail how people with a direct payment will arrange things.

The other is that we expect, possibly as soon as next year, to have to set independent personal budgets for self-funders, whose actual arrangements may be quite different from any assumptions we make in setting their budget. For instance, they might have their eligible needs met by paid workers, who are also providing other services, which would not be eligible for public funding.

In practice, the way we are doing this is causing confusion – and isn't easy for service users to understand. What we are intending to do in the next version is remove the requirement to record care worker times against each task, and instead have an indicative care and support plan, which is more like a traditional care plan based on visits. The form will make it clear that people with direct payments don't have to follow the indicative plan, though it will act as the basis for discussions about how much money they need.

In the meantime, the key to showing the right number of hours of support on the existing form is to make sure you only enter the time required for each visit once. You don't need to show time against tasks at all, if they will be carried out by support workers who will be with the person all the time to protect them from risks. The time of the support workers should be shown in part 2b. If tasks will be carried out by care workers visiting, and several tasks will be carried out on a single visit, you should usually show the whole length of visit against the main task to be carried out (though it may sometimes be sensible to split it between tasks).

If you are putting the total length of the visit against the main task, you should then, against each of the other tasks, use the dropdown option of ‘After taking account of any likely opportunities to combine this task with other care and support that you need, we would expect that carrying out this task each time it is needed will typically take no additional time’.

If this would make the form confusing, an alternative approach is to create a new combined task, by clicking on ‘Click to add another task’. For instance, you might start a new task with ‘You need help to carry out necessary tasks at lunchtime’, and then explain underneath this what those tasks are, as well as why the person needs help with them and how much help they need.

If someone needs two care workers for part of a visit, and only one for the remainder of it, this is likely to be because the second care worker is only required for one of the tasks to be carried out. In this case, it makes sense to split the time between the two separate tasks. For instance, showing half an hour for getting the person out of bed and ready, with two care workers, and an additional quarter of an hour for making breakfast, with one worker.

If you come across examples of situations where it is difficult to find a sensible way to explain how much time the person needs, or where the solution you find is clumsy, please contact the systems helpdesk if you need an urgent answer. Or email CareActQueries if there isn't an immediate problem, but you want to bring an issue to our attention.

Day care isn't itself a need, so the form should record the needs day care is proposed as a solution to.  Usually the issue will be that it is important for the person to be able to get out of the house – to give a carer a break or for company/stimulation – but they can't do that without someone keeping an eye on them as they would be at risk.

The way to record this would therefore usually be in part 2b of the form, where you should set out the risks the person would face if they didn't have someone with them when they are out of the house.  You should then click the ‘update’ link in the section at the end of part 2b about ‘Support with unpredictable risks from carers or care workers’ so that you can add details of the level of support they require.

Usually this would be likely to be ‘nearby’ support, which is equivalent to what was entered on the former SDS1 form as support which wasn't ‘undivided attention’.  You should only pick ‘intensive support’ if the person specifically needs 1:1 support.  As on the SDS1, the calculation of the indicative personal budget is based on the number of hours of support that the person needs. For ‘nearby support’, it is assumed support will be shared with others.

Usually someone who needs support to be safe out of the house should be referred to a support planner to consider personalised solutions, which could be achieved within the indicative budget.  However, if the solution you arrive at is a traditional day care service, you would enter that in the ‘New or changed care and support services’ section in Part 6.  If a day care service is already in place and will continue, information about this service will automatically be inserted into part 5 of the form from Swift.

There are now options designed for this purpose in the dropdowns for tasks in part 2a of the form and risks in part 2b.  These are intended to be used only for reviews of people living in a care home or a supported living scheme.  These options should be added automatically to existing draft copies of the CSP1 when they are next opened in Swift, as well as being available in new CSP1s.

However, they will not be added to the form while it is checked out onto a tablet. If you need them added to a form which you current have on your tablet, you should check it back in to Swift. You can then immediately check it out again if you want to continue working on the tablet, and it should be updated when you next open it.

If either of the new options is selected, when you click the red + , the form will check that the person is indeed living in a care home or supported living scheme. If the accommodation section of the form does not say this, a dialog box will be displayed warning that you are trying to enter inconsistent information. In this case, you will need to update the information about the person’s accommodation before you can proceed.

The new option for each task in part 2a is ‘You need help from staff in your care setting’.  If this option is selected, you then need to answer just two questions about the task: ‘You need help because...’ and ‘The help that you need is...’ The other questions, which are displayed for people living in the community, do not appear.

You do not have to select this option for every task that the person needs help with. For instance, if the person goes out regularly with a family or friend carer, and this is how they meet their need ‘to stay in touch with your family, or other people who are important to you’, you should select the option ‘You need help’, and describe that arrangement. Similarly, if the person needs additional support over and above the normal staffing of a care home, or if they get some task-based support in a supported living scheme, it will probably be appropriate to describe this in the same way as if they were living in ordinary housing.

A similar change has been made in part 2b of the form, with a new option added against each type of risk: ‘Staff in your care setting must watch risks to you’.

In a similar way to part 2a, choosing this option cuts the further information back to just two questions: ‘You are at risk because...’ and ‘What staff will need to do to protect you from risk is...’

You don't need to do that immediately in order to make the change to the service. You can arrange the change by contacting the brokers, who have a simplified form for recording the changes and getting budget approval for them. However, you should then complete a full CSP1 with the person within the following four weeks.

The steps the care manager should follow are:

• Agree the change with the budget holder (this can be done orally).
• Record the agreement and the reasons for the change in a contact note.
• Contact the brokerage service and ask them to make the change.

The broker will make the service arrangements, fill in a brief form to record them, send this to the provider and update the services in Swift. They will add a new review date on Swift in four weeks’ time. We will be monitoring whether these reviews (which should use the CSP1) take place on time.

When you are carrying out a needs assessment for someone, you should always encourage any carer(s) who are providing a substantial amount of support to them to agree to an assessment of their own needs on a CSP2. Other carers also have a right to ask for an assessment, even if they are providing much less support to the person.

The CSP1 doesn't include a box for ‘carer views’, as the old CP1 did.  This is because of the clear expectation in the Care Act and associated guidance, that we will document the impact on carers more comprehensively than we usually did in the past.

Currently, to record a carer assessment, you need to go in Swift to the carer's record, and record a carer assessment on the assessments screen. See the Swift manual on needs assessment recording for details.
If you didn't expect to be assessing a carer when you call on someone (for instance, because you weren't aware of them until you made your visit), there should be a template for creating a CSP2 in the same folder on the tablet as the CSP1. You can complete a carer assessment on this template.  When you get back to the office you will have to cut and paste the text into a CSP2 for the carer, generated from Swift (you may be able to get admin to help with this).

Sometimes, carers will benefit from an assessment even if the person they are looking after does not want a needs assessment (for instance, because they are paying privately or don't want any paid-for support).  Usually in this situation, we advise people first to talk to Carers Northumberland, who may be able to give them the advice and support they need without involvement from statutory services. Carers have a right to an assessment by us if they want one – and sometimes Carers Northumberland will advise people that they would benefit from one.

Care managers should tell admin if you have entered any of the following new information on a CSP1, because it needs to be separately entered on Swift:

• details of a new professional or service involved
• amendment of details of an existing professional involved
• details of a new family member/friend
• amendment of details of an existing family member/friend
• consent to share information with professionals/family members/friends (the next answer says more about how this should be done)
• email addresses
• section 117 aftercare status under the Mental Health Act
• a CSP2 created using the template on the tablet rather than in Swift

We are hoping to automate part of this process before long, but for now care managers are responsible for making sure admin know what information needs to be entered into Swift.

If admin have any issues about how to enter the information, after consulting the Swift guidance, they should contact the systems helpline.

The CSP1 includes all the information which we have previously recorded on the CP2, though it is presented differently:

• When you add or amend details of a professional or service, you can say whether the person has agreed that professional or service can share information with us. However, some professionals may still ask for signed consent. You should check if this will be required, and you will need to use the CP2 as well as the CSP1 if it is. This corresponds to question 3 on the CP2.
• Below the clickable link for adding details of a professional or service, there is a question about whether there are any special issues about us sharing information with others involved in the person's care and support.  This corresponds to question 1 on the CP2.
• When you add or amend details of a family member or friend, there is a question asking, ‘Do you want us to send them copies of your assessment and related information?’ This corresponds to question 2 on the CP2.

We intend to shortly introduce a procedure for recording the first and third pieces of information on Swift so they can be pulled back as part of the information about professionals/related people, which is automatically inserted into the CSP1 from Swift. 

But for now, we have asked admin to enter this information on Swift as if it had been filled in on a CP2.  However, you do not need to complete a CP2 as well as the CSP1, unless another professional or service says they need a signed consent document before sharing information with you.

The drop-down at the top of the form should say it is ‘not yet the final result’ until any changed services have been put onto Swift and a financial assessment has been put on Swift.  This is because it is a Care Act requirement for the care and support plan to include the ‘personal budget’ – which, in Care Act language means the statement pulled in from Swift in part 5 showing what your service costs, what you will pay towards it, and what the local authority contribution will be. 

The ‘personal budget’ will be out of date or missing if services and the financial assessment aren't up to date on Swift.  At present, that will mainly just cause confusion, but if the Government's proposed cap on care costs goes ahead in April 2016, it will be essential to have personal budgets right on the care and support plan we send out because the personal budget determines what will be credited to people's care accounts.

Once you have saved the CSP1 as ‘the final result’, it can't be further updated.
If the person wants a copy of the draft care and support plan, or the assessment, before the services and financial assessment are on Swift, you can send them a copy described at the top as a ‘draft care and support plan’ and ‘not yet the final result’.

For many people with a learning disability or mental health issues, the key reasons for providing support will be unpredictable risks they face as a result of their condition, rather than tasks that they are unable to carry out. For instance, the person may need support to manage their behaviour, or to make sure they don't harm themselves when they get confused. 

If you are assessing someone who needs support for reasons like this, we would recommend going through part 2b of the form before part 2a. It may then be appropriate to record all of most of the support which the person needs under the ‘Support with unpredictable risks from carers or care workers’ heading at the end of part 2b. Remember that you need to click the ‘update’ link under this heading to open up the questions about support needed from carers/care workers.) 

You should then check through part 2a, but it may quickly be obvious that no task-based care and support is needed, in which case the answers to all questions in that part will be ‘You do not need help’.

There isn't at present a specific place for this kind of information, but a sensible solution would be to add a sentence in bold at the end of the first box in part 1 (‘Your disabilities or health conditions, or any other reasons why you need care and support, are summarised in the box below’), saying something like ‘You have a hospital passport which describes in detail the things which hospital staff should know if you need treatment’.

The first paragraph in part 5 gives a brief explanation of why this may be the case.  In more detail, one reason why this is often the position is that the indicative personal budget is based on direct payment rates, whereas actual services may be from agency home care providers. 

Other reasons can include traditional day care being more expensive than the level of support which you have assessed someone needs when they are out of the house, or a person getting 1:1 support for practical reasons when you have assessed they wouldn't actually need if an arrangement based on shared support was possible.

If someone has a young carer who appears to need support, you must refer them to children's services. You also need to tell the young carer and their parents that the young carer has a right to an assessment, if they want one; even if you do not think they appear to have a need for support. 

We are currently clarifying the details of the process for this – in the meantime, Lynne Maughan in children's services (Lynne.Maughan@northumberland.gov.uk) can provide advice.

You don't need to go through the whole of the form with everyone you assess, discussing every question. 

Assessments should be proportionate to the person's needs.  In particular, if most of the tasks in part 2a or most of the risks in part 2b are clearly not relevant to the person, you might just show the person the list, and say ‘is there anything else on this list that you think we should talk about?’  You may find it easiest to do that using

Information Sheet C2, rather than the tablet – the list of needs in the information sheet is the same as the list in the CSP1, though it's presented slightly differently to fit it on the page.

The form is designed on the basis that the person it is about is referred to as ‘you’.  You should follow this style even if the person does not have capacity and the form will in fact be sent to someone else such as a family member.

If the person doesn't have the capacity to answer a question, and you are recording what a family member told you, make it clear who actually gave you the information – e.g. write ‘Your daughter told us that...’, not ‘You told us that...’ if that's what happened.

‘I’ and ‘us’ on the form should refer to you as the assessor and to us as an organisation.  The standard text says ‘us’ because the document reflects our organisational decisions – which may sometimes be the result of discussions between multiple professionals and their managers.

But if it is more natural to say ‘I’ when referring to yourself, that's fine, so long as you are the person listed in part 6 as responsible for the assessment, and so long as you are confident that the people you are sending it to will know which of the people they met is you.

Social services legislation has for a long time used the word ‘carer’ specifically to mean a friend, family member or partner who provides unpaid care. It is still not unusual for staff to refer to a paid care worker as a ‘carer’, but now that the Care Act requires us to provide people with much more documentation, and gives carers more explicit rights, we do need to make sure we are clear about who we are talking about.

The CSP forms only use ‘carer’ to mean a family/friend carer, never to mean a care worker. (So, for instance, the answer to the question in Part 3 about whether your care and support arrangements depend on a carer is ‘no’ if the arrangements depend only on care workers.)

We are developing online versions of the questions in the CSP1 and CSP2, which will enable people to fill in their answers before talking to a needs assessor, but this won't be ready for another month or two.

It isn't entirely consistent at present. Drop-downs with a red + against them are blue if the default answer hasn't been changed, and when the red + is clicked, it turns black if it has been changed. Other drop-downs generally stay blue whatever is selected, though they do change if they are in the same paragraph as a dropdown with a red +.

We intend to adopt a more consistent colouring scheme in a future enhancement, and may also try to give other indications about the state of the form – for instance, by giving an indication of which questions have not yet had the answers confirmed when someone is reassessed. But we need to consider what would be most useful. Comments on this would be welcome.

Copies of the needs assessment handbook which is the primary reference on how to complete the new forms are currently being published to a folder on the shared S: drive rather than to this page.

• Process diagram
• ​Presentation used in briefings, November 2014 

• consent to share information
• paper case file checklist
• case file recording standards
• case file recording audit form
• no reply policy
• ERC options guidance process
• STSS options guidance algorithm
• overall flowchart

For further information, please contact Stephen.Corlett@northumbria-healthcare.nhs.uk

• policy, procedure and guidance for managers and staffpolicy-and-procedure

This ‘recording hazards in Swift’ procedure advises staff on their responsibilities in relation to:

• recording hazards and highlighting violence and aggression alerts
• informing the client/relative/carer and sharing hazard information with other professionals
• reviewing, updating and ending hazards

• Guidance on continuing health care
• Appendices and glossary
• Appendix 1 - NHS continuing care and NHS funded nursing care leaflet
• Appendix 2.1-2 - checklist tool - care manager
• Appendix 3.1 - fast track tool notes - health care professional
• Appendix 3.2 - fast track tool - health care professional
• Appendix 4 - fast Track Protocol
• Appendix 5 - no further consideration letter - care manager
• Appendix 6 - for further consideration letter - care manager
• Appendix 7 - fast track letter - care nanager
• Appendix 8 - complex care tool - NAT
• Appendix 9 - shared package letter - care manager
• Appendix 10 - social care report - care manager
• Appendix 11 - panel front sheet - care manager
• Appendix 12 - not CHC, single band nursing letter - NAT admin
• Appendix 13 - not CHC, high band review letter - NAT admin
• Appendix 14 - had DST, not CHC, at home or respite letter - care manager
• Appendix 15 - yes CHC approved letter - care manager
• Appendix 16 - DST- (full document) sample only
• Appendix 16a - DST (partial document) sample only
• Flowchart PowerPoint presentation

Glossary
 
CHC - continuing health care
DST - decision support tool
NAT - nurse assessor team

• Tel: 01670 536 400
• Email: Socialcare@northumbria.nhs.uk

The sense of security and independence that comes with taking on your own tenancy can help people feel more stable and confident about the future. It can also allow people more freedom of choice about their living environment and make better use of their income.

A number of current registered residential services might now consider the potential benefits of independent supported living and will benefit from further information to inform any decision to change their status.

The protocol document below supports a person-centred approach and the eight step individual pathway. This also includes good practice guides and resources to assist you through the process.

If you are considering this option, please contact us before you progress by emailing us at:

• contracts@northumberland.gov.uk

• Northumberland County Council deregistration protocol
• Northumberland County Council deregistration checklist

Step one is developing the business case and introducing the change to residents and families.

• the consultation process
• consultation checklist
• supported living making the move
• CQC guidance on applying to cancel a registration

Step two is the decision to stay and developing the person-centred plan.

• check progress on person-centred approaches
• Northumberland way project management

Step three is re-assessment of needs for supported living and assessment of care hours required.

• Northumberland assessment of needs template

Step four is identify what funding and benefits are available to residents.

• good practice in support planning and brokerage

Step five is developing and understanding the tenancy.

• easy read tenancy template
• tenancy agreement guide
• shelter guide to housing association tenancies
• shelter guide to private tenancies
• the real tenancy test

Step six is agreeing the staffing resource.

• business and workforce planning toolkit

Step seven is when the service changes over and the new support package starts.
Step eight reviews the changes.

• Northumberland County Council quality monitoring framework
• Northumberland County Council feedback to managers template