Free Nursing Dissertations - This Circular Forms The Statutory Basis For Local Authorities For Assessment
This circular forms the statutory basis for local authorities for assessment of need, provisions of services and placement of people in residential care who are under 18 and who misuse alcohol and drugs in accordance with the Children Act 1989 and associated guidance and Regulations (DoH LA Circular, 1993).
Community Care of Alcohol and Drug misusers -
The legal procedures lay down the following clauses for community care associated with alcohol and drug misuse. According to the legal circular provided by the DoH,
LAs should plan for continuity of services for alcohol and drug misusers under the new community care arrangements, and, as a priority they should ensure that:
-community care plans property reflects the needs of these user groups;
- the special circumstances of these people are recognized and reflected in appropriate
procedures for assessment and care management. (DoH, LA Circular, 1993)
The legal and social responsibilities of the Local Authorities in provision of community care for alcohol and drug abusers can be stated as follows:
From 1993, by virtue of the NHS and Community Care Act 1990, LAs’ responsibilities for arranging and funding the social care of alcohol and drug misusers will be:
1. Assessing the needs of the local population for alcohol and drug services;
2. Including services for alcohol and drug mis-users in their community care plans;
3. Assessing the social care needs of individual alcohol and drug mis-users;
4. Arranging appropriate packages of care, which may include a range of options.
In addition to the social responsibilities of the local authorities in providing care and social and financial support to alcohol and drug misusers, the health authorities have a different set of responsibilities. The health authority is responsible for funding health care from general allocations and despite community care arrangements, funding allocations remain unaffected. Treatment of alcohol and drug abusers, including counseling can take place in residential or non-residential settings and new community care arrangements do not affect health authorities’ responsibilities for funding the healthcare element of any alcohol and drug service (Hulse, 2004). Local authorities are expected to examine and consider alcohol and drug abuse cases within the community and draw up agreements with health authorities for covering arrangements for funding treatment and rehabilitation services for people with alcohol and/or drug problems. Thus funding for community care of people who are affected by abuse problems are mainly provided by the health authorities and mediated by the local authorities who determine what type of financial help would be provided to the individuals and for how long.
