How it works

How it all works
We have an ‘open referral’ system so anyone can contact us and ask for our help. Once we receive a referral our Care Manager will come to your home to meet both you and the person you care for to assess your individual care needs. If we are able to help you, we will draw up a care plan together that suits your needs and will include details of the service, the times when support has been requested and the frequency of support needed. In order to ensure your safety and the safety of our staff, all agreed tasks would be risk assessed.

Please note that we can not allow our staff to be subjected to passive smoking in the course of their work and we will therefore ask you to provide a smoke-free environment whilst staff are working within your home. All discussions around the service will be carer led and an Individual Support Plan will be agreed by all parties. This will include a personal support plan, which will be drawn up with you and the person you care for. We will ask you to sign the relevant documents to indicate that you agree with the service to be provided.

A personal care plan will be agreed with the person with care needs and may include the following:
• Bathing / Dressing and undressing
• Assisting people to move
• Meal preparation and assistance with feeding
• The management of continence
• Assistance with medication
• Shopping
• Light domestic duties including laundry if required during the Carer's absence
• Activities outside the home - socialising / pursuing hobbies
• Attending appointments - hospital / dental

Many carers are entitled to claim the cost of Crossroads' services from Essex County Council following a Carer's Assessment, which all carers are entitled to. Whilst this is being arranged we can start a service under the Essex County Council’s Early Intervention funding scheme. A carer’s assessment simply establishes whether a carer is entitled to Direct Payments to cover the costs of our support and does not involve any personal financial reviews (i.e. there is no "means testing"). If the carer is not eligible for payment, we can still offer support but we will need to charge for the service. It is important that carers accept a Carer's Assessment as if this is declined we must then charge the full cost of our services, otherwise we would breach our charitable status, which prevents us from using charitable donations for services that statutory authorities are already obliged to fund. Our Care Manager will explain all this. Whether in receipt of Direct Payments or accessing our services privately we will send an invoice out to the carer on a monthly basis. Please be aware that additional charges are made for weekends and evenings.