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  2. Adult social care and health
  3. Providers and professionals
  4. A guide for personal assistants
  5. Working with clients

Working with clients

A range of teams in Adult Social Care support people with care and support needs in East Sussex:

  • Neighbourhood Support Teams: assess people’s care needs and arrange support. A social worker from this team may arrange a PA on behalf of the client.
  • Occupational therapists: can assess whether a client’s home is safe and recommend adjustments.
  • Mental Health teams: supports clients with mental health difficulties, including dementia and substance misuse. This may include help with housing, and the legal system.
  • Learning Disabilities teams: provides support tailored for clients with a learning disability. They can also help find suitable housing.
  • Health and Social Care Connect: is our contact centre. You can contact us for advice from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week.  Contact Adult Social Care and Health

If you are a personal assistant supporting one of our clients, you are likely to have contact with one of these teams. For example, when setting up care arrangements or informing them that a client’s care needs have changed.

Clients who receive direct payments

Many clients pay for their services using direct payments. This is a budget which Adult Social Care gives the client so they can organise and buy their own care and support.

You can find out more about how clients use direct payments to employ a personal assistant in our guide: Direct payments.

PeoplePlus and Independent Lives are our direct payment support services. These are services commissioned by the council to support clients who employ a personal assistant.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding means protecting someone’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect. There are many different types of abuse.

Everyone has a duty to report abuse or neglect. This is called reporting a safeguarding concern.

If you are worried that a client is being abused, neglected or exploited, phone Health and Social Care Connect on 0345 60 80 191.

We also provide training on identifying safeguarding concerns.

Mental capacity

Mental capacity is the ability to make your own decisions. If someone appears to lack mental capacity, Adult Social Care will do a mental capacity assessment. If this shows the person does not have mental capacity, a person or organisation will be appointed to manage their affairs.

The Mental Capacity Act is the law we must follow. It has five key principles:

  1. Assume people have capacity.
  2. Provide support for people to make decisions for themselves.
  3. Remember people who make unwise decisions may still have capacity.
  4. Actions taken must be in the best interests of the person who lacks capacity.
  5. The less restrictive option must be considered first.

If you support a client who lacks capacity, it is important to remember that they may have capacity to make some decisions. Any actions taken on their behalf must be in their best interests. For more information see: Mental capacity.