Westminster: information and advice

Independent advice service

In January 2009 Westminster commissioned Counsel and Care to provide an independent telephone and internet-based social care information service for its older residents, including self-funders. The service provides impartial information and advice and, because it is telephone and email-based, is accessible to all older people, including those who are housebound, as well as to family members and carers who may not be London-based themselves.

Information and advice is available on a range of issues, including the financial assessment process, third party top-ups and liable relative payments, the duties and responsibilities of statutory services, hospital discharge, making complaints, mental capacity and decision-making, adaptations to the home, housing options in later life, and NHS continuing care funding.

Targeted promotion produces results

During the first year of the service, locally targeted promotion increased the number of cases handled concerning Westminster residents by more than 600 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year. Half of the callers were self-funding, with 33 per cent receiving council funded services and 17 per cent NHS funded. Follow-up research carried out between three and six months after the first contact found that 75 per cent of service users said they found it easier to cope as a result of the advice given, while around a quarter (27 per cent) reported that their physical health had improved as a result of the advice they received.