Review of the Implementation of the Northern Ireland Single ...

video recordings involving trust carers to complement their training
programme.
Trusts request that staff complete a staff evaluation questionnaire at the end
of their training sessions. Staff made the point that carer assessment training
is not mandatory and many staff have not taken up training.
4.1.2 Carer’s Support and Needs Assessment Tool
All professional staff interviewed stated that the Carer‟s Support and Needs
Assessment Tool was the only carer assessment tool in use. Staff stated that
a carer‟s assessment is always offered and at various stages in the caring
journey but not always accepted. There was a consensus of opinion that
carers only took up the offer of an assessment at crisis times and this may be
attributed to the carer believing they may receive more services.
Carer‟s assessment and information guidance proposes that the assessment
is carried out at a time convenient to the carer and that it may not always be a
one- off process. A variation in practice was noted with regard to completing
the assessment. Some social work staff reported that they would post to, or
leave an assessment form with the carer and ask them to complete as far as
possible. They would then contact the carer and arrange a time to discuss the
assessment with them. Others said they leave the form and the onus was on
the carer to contact them. The review team felt that staff should be
encouraged to be proactive in completing carer‟s assessments and not put the
onus on the carer.
Practitioners and managers raised the issue of the amount of time required to
complete the assessment. This was due in the main to the time required to
capture a more detailed consideration of the carer‟s perspective of caring and
for the professional time involved in personal contact, administration and
follow-up work. Time required with carers to complete an assessment was
dependent upon individual circumstances. The consensus was that it would
take a minimum of two hours to complete a carer‟s assessment.
All staff strongly indicated that they were under a considerable amount of
pressure. Caseloads were high and often complex and they felt that they did
not have enough time to address referrals for carer assessments in a timely
manner.
Some staff reported that if they were dealing with the cared for person they
saw it as a potential conflict of interest to also address the carer‟s needs and
hence made referrals for assessment to other social work teams. This could
potentially delay the assessment process.
Staff generally found the tool prompted discussion and gave the carer a good
opportunity to talk about their issues. Staff were of the opinion that if the tool
was used as intended i.e. as a means to include and empower the carer in
their caring role, this was a tool to be embraced.
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