Accommodation


National Assistance Act 1948


 


The National Assistance Act may be a useful tool where YOTs are still dealing with young people over the age of 18.


 


Section 21 (1) (a) states that:


 


“A local authority may, with the approval of the Secretary of State and to such extent as he may direct, shall make arrangements for providing -


 


(a) Residential accommodation for persons aged eighteen or over who by reason of age, illness, disability or any other circumstances are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them…”


 


It may be possible to call upon social services to exercise a duty under this piece of legislation where a young person aged 18 or over is denied access to housing under the homelessness legislation and lacks the necessary resources to find and maintain alternative accommodation for themselves, e.g. if they are destitute.


 


See also the 2004 updated guidance on the Act on the Department of Health’s website.


 


 


Source:


 


 


 


 


CIRCULAR SWSG12/72 5456


6 September 1972


 


Dear Colleague


 


CHRONICALLY SICK AND DISABLED PERSONS (SCOTLAND) ACT 1972


 


Summary


 


1. This Circular provides guidance on the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons (Scotland) Act 1972, which received Royal Assent on 27 July 1972. The Act extends the application of sections 1 and 2(1) of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 to Scotland, with certain amendments to take account of the provisions of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The other provisions of the 1970 Act already apply to Scotland.


 


Commencement


 


2. Section 1 of the 1970 Act came into operation in Scotland on 1 October 1972 under the provisions of the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 (Government) (Scotland) Order 1972. Section 2(1) of the 1970 Act became effective in Scotland as from the date of enactment of the 1972 Act.


 


Guidance on the Provisions of the Act


 


3. The effect of section 1 of the 1970 Act, as applied to Scotland, is to place a duty on local authorities to inform themselves of the number of chronically sick and disabled persons in their area, and of the need for arrangements to be made for such persons under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968; to publish from time to time at such times and such manner as they consider appropriate general information as to the services provided under the Act of 1968 which are for the time being available in their area; and to ensure that any person who uses any of those services is informed of any other of those services which in the opinion of the local authority is relevant to his needs


 


4. The effect of section 2(1) of the 1970 Act is to place a duty on the authority to make arrangements for all or any of the following services where they are satisfied that these services are necessary in order to meet the needs of the person concerned:


 


 


(a) the provision of practical assistance for that person in his home;


 


(b) the provision for that person of, or assistance to that person in obtaining, radio, television, library or similar recreational facilities;


 


(c) the provision for that person of lectures, games, outings and other recreational facilities outside his home or assistance to that person in taking advantage of educational facilities available to him;


 


(d) the provision for that person of facilities for, or assistance in, travelling to and from his home for the purpose of participating in any services provided under arrangements made by the authority under the 1968 Act, or, with the approval of the authority, in any service provided otherwise than as aforesaid which is similar to services which could be provided under such arrangements;


 


(e) the provision of assistance for that person in arranging for the carrying out of any works or adaptation in his home or the provision of any additional facilities designed to secure his greater safety, comfort or convenience;


 


(f) facilitating the taking of holidays by that person, whether at holiday homes or otherwise and whether provided under arrangements made by the authority or otherwise;


 


(g) the provision of meals for that person whether in his home or elsewhere; and


 


(h) the provision for that person, or assistance to that person, to obtain a telephone and any special equipment necessary to enable him to use a telephone.


 


5. Section 1(2) of the 1972 Act provides that nothing in the provisions of the Act shall derogate from the scope of what local authorities are under a duty to do in respect of any person by virtue of any provision of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968. The Act of 1972 accordingly does not affect the general duty of the local authority to promote social welfare under section 12 of the 1968 Act, under which services are already provided for chronically sick and disabled persons and other categories of person in need.


 


Assessment


 


6. The task of assessing the needs of each disabled person should be undertaken as a normal part of the authority’s social work service, ie it should be an occasion for consideration of all relevant needs and not merely those to which the section refers; and a judgement whether these needs or others are of prior importance should be drawn from a complete and not a partial picture of the situation. Further advice on assessment and care management is given in Circular No SWSG11/91.


 


General


 


7. The Secretary of State expects authorities to have full regard to the provisions of the 1972 Act in the administration and planning of their services. He is aware that a number of the facilities described in the Act, as well as other facilities for the disabled, are already provided by local authorities in the exercise of their duty to promote social welfare under section 12, and by voluntary organisations in accordance with arrangements made under section 4, of the 1968 Act. He also appreciates that, in drawing up their proposals for the future development of the social work services, authorities must take account of many other claims on their resources in addition to those of the disabled. Nevertheless, he expects services for the disabled to benefit from the increased provision which is being made for the social work services, and asks authorities to be as generous as possible within the resources available in their provision of services for this purpose.


 


Source:


 


Care in the Community


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Care in the Community was a policy of the Margaret Thatcher government in the 1980s. Its aim was a more liberal way of helping people with mental health problems, by removing them from impersonal, often Victorian, institutions, and caring for them in their own homes. Also, better drugs became available and this meant that patients could be treated at home. It was also meant to reduce the cost of institutionalizing so many mentally ill people.


 


Although there have been some murders by a few people in the community with mental health problems, the truth is that it is far more likely that someone with mental health problems will be subject to attack by someone who is healthy themselves. [1]


 


The National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 was passed so that patients were to be individually assessed, and assigned a specific care worker; in the unlikely event that they presented a risk they were to be placed on a Supervision Register. But there have been some problems with patients “slipping through the net” and ending up homeless on the street. There have also been arguments between Health and Social Services departments on who should pay.


 


In January 1998, the Labour Health Secretary, , said the care in the community programme launched by the Conservatives had failed (, 1998. Retrieved on September 26, 2005.).


 


The situation in London has long been particularly difficult. People with psychiatric problems, particularly drug and alcohol abuse, and schizophrenia gravitate to London from all over the world and from all over the country. However, funding for health care in London has been redistributed to the provinces and the proportion of the overall NHS budget spent on mental health services has declined from 11% to 9%. Many psychiatric beds have been closed. In order to get better psychiatric bed utilisation, psychiatric wards became mixed sex wards and the pressure on beds has meant that the level of disturbance on the acute psychiatric wards has become much greater.


 


Some of the resultant initiatives have been largely cosmetic. For example, assertive outreach has been widely promoted for difficult cases. The team have a small caseload and are able to dedicate intensive resources. In consequence, the teams often have a waiting list of years and are only prepared to accept patients with severe, treatment resistant schizophrenia.


 


Source:


2002 source:


 


1


THE ACT – AN OVERVIEW


3. The Act gives effect to the proposals in the White Paper “Partnership for Care” and fulfils


the commitments in the Partnership Agreement (“:


” published in May 2003) to bring forward legislation to reform the


National Health Service (“NHS”) by introducing provisions in relation to:


the dissolution of NHS Trusts;


establishing Community Health Partnerships;


placing a duty on Health Boards to co-operate with each other, with Special Health


Boards and with the Common Services Agency, in the interests of developing more


effective regional planning of health services;


extending Ministerial powers to intervene to secure the quality of healthcare services;


placing a duty on Health Boards and Special Health Boards to involve the public in


the planning, development and operation of health services; and


placing a duty on the Scottish Ministers and Health Boards to take action to promote


health improvement.


4. The Act also includes provisions in relation to:


the governance of NHS staff;


the promotion of equal opportunities in the NHS; and


certain minor and consequential amendments and repeals.


These notes relate to the National Health Service Reform (Scotland) Act 2004 (asp 7) which


received Royal Assent on 11 June 2004


5. The Act primarily impacts upon the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (“the


1978 Act”) by repealing and amending provisions of that Act and by inserting new sections into


it.


6. The Act is in three Parts:


Part 1: Organisation and operation of National Health Service;


Part 2: Promotion of health improvement;


Part 3: Supplementary


 


source:


 


 


 


Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001


The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (the Act) established a system of care regulation in Scotland.  The Act‘s purpose is to provide greater protection for people in need of care services. We are required by the Act to regulate certain care services.


The Act was made by Scottish Parliament and empowers Scottish Ministers to make regulations and orders to meet the Acts requirements.


We register and inspect services against a set of National Care Standards.  The standards outline the quality of service that care service users have the right to expect.  They have been developed with the intention that the quality of care provided and received throughout Scotland will be consistent.  The standards also ensure that all care services will be measured against a set of general principles.  We produce inspection reports for each service once an inspection has taken place.


Source:



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