Adult Social Care: Customer Charter

What you can expect when you contact us

Our team will:

Talk to you to understand your needs

We will focus on what you are able to do, your personal circumstances and, where appropriate, how we can help you to remain as independent as possible.

Give advice

Our knowledge and experience means we can often help just by providing advice, sharing information or putting you in touch with local organisations who can help you.

Help you find local support

You may have people among your own family, friends or neighbours who can give you extra support. We can also help you get in touch with local organisations who may be able to help.

Find solutions to help you remain independent

Sometimes a short period of support, a piece of equipment, or applying for the right benefit can help you remain independent and reduce the amount of help you need in the longer term.

Look at what you may be entitled to

Where necessary we will consider your care and support needs against national criteria to confirm if you are eligible for support. We are bound by laws and legislation which set out what support we can provide to make sure limited resources are used fairly and public funds are spent wisely.

We may need to carry out a financial assessment

We do not charge you for our initial advice and signposting but, unlike healthcare and children's social services, Adult Social Care is not free to everyone. If you are eligible for our support a financial assessment will look at whether some, or all, of this will be paid for by the council.

We will be honest with you and treat you fairly and with respect

If you are unhappy with something we will do our best to resolve the issue.

In return, we ask that you:

Are patient with us

Our services are under a lot of pressure, resources are limited and we need to prioritise people who are at particular risk.

Help us so we can help you

It helps everyone when we can work efficiently, if possible please try to find the answer to your query before contacting us. You can find useful information on our Adult Social Care webpages.

Treat us with respect

We understand that when people are under stress they may act out of character. You can ask us to contact you at another time if you are finding a conversation difficult.

We will not tolerate abuse of our staff in person, during phone calls, emails or other written communications.