Care and support plans

The care and support plan is to help you think about the support you need to remain as independent as possible. 

Your first step is to have a needs assessment. Your care and support plan will need to meet the outcomes that are identified in this.

You can use the care and support plan:

• if you’re the person who needs help
• if you’re the carer
• jointly as a carer and the 'cared for' person
• to help you think about the support you need, even if you’re not receiving funding from us

If you require help to fill out your care and support plan, you can ask someone yourself or we can assist you to arrange an advocate to help and speak on your behalf.

Where your care and support plan relies on someone else making decisions for you, it must say how they will help you and how they will know that you agree with their choices.

If someone reads your care and support plan they should be able to get a sense of your lifestyle, an understanding of who you are and your aspirations for the future. 

Your support plan needs to contain:

• what’s important to you
• your likes and dislikes
• your hobbies and interests
• the important people in your life
• your hopes and fears for the future
• what you hope to achieve and by when
• anything you want to change in your life.

You can start by thinking about how your life is at the moment, what’s working well and the things that aren’t working so well. What does a good day look like, and what is a bad day like for you? 

Your care and support plan should include the type of help and support that you’re going to need to ensure you stay safe and well. This can include tasks such as help with cooking, shopping, household chores, personal care, visiting friends or keeping appointments.

Put things down that will make your life better. People who help you will also need to agree with your choices, but don’t include anything that someone else thinks you should do if you don't agree.

If a health or social care professional carried out your assessment they will have identified the needs that we’ll meet, as well as any others you may have. It’s important to remember that any council funded arrangements you make have to be directly linked to the assessed needs that we’ll support. 

You can do the care and support plan yourself or complete the assessment with:

• your family or other people in your circle of support
• a health or social care professional
• an independent person, who may charge you for their services
• an advocate who can complete the care and support plan on your behalf

You can also use local people or resources, as these can often be easier to arrange than buying from a care agency. They may also be people that you know and feel more comfortable to have helping you.

Your care and support plan must show what you intend spending your personal budget on. This should include any money that you have to pay towards your own care costs.