Social Care
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Contacting Social Care Teams

There are many services which may be able to help you care, and Social Care Teams across Surrey  are one of the key organisations to contact as soon as possible in order to help you. The Community Care Act came into force in 1990. The act assists people who need help because of illness, or disability in a practical way. The help which may be offered by Social Care Teams is wide and varied and are there to meet the person you care for needs and your needs as a carer as much as possible. The important thing to note is one of the prime aims of the act is to give the person who is being cared for a life they choose to live, and as much independence as possible. The act also recognises you the Carer. It recognises YOU need appropriate support to enable you to look after the person you care for and most importantly yourself. There are a number of ways you may be supported. Click here to view Surrey County Councils Fair Access to Care Services Eligibility Policy for Adult Services (PDF).

Contacting The Social Care Team

The first thing to do is contact the Surrey County Council Contact Centre on 08456 009 009

Click here for locations of local adult Social Care Teams in the community for older people and people with a physical, sensory or cognitive disability, people with a learning disability,  people with mental health problems.

Click here for social care teams based within hospitals. They provide social work and care management to people who are being discharged from hospital.

Click here for contact details of  social care  teams providing social care for children in Surrey, including social care assessments and child protection. Click here for a full list of services children and families provide

Click here for contact details of the Emergency Duty Team. The team provides an emergency social work service for urgent situations which arise out of normal office hours and which cannot be left with an appropriate degree of safety until the next normal working day. The Emergency Duty Team service is not intended as an alternative means of accessing the usual daily activities of Surrey County Council. Within normal office hours the appropriate  local office should be contacted.

When you call your local Social Care Team office you will speak to an 'Advisory Officer who will ask you a few questions about the person you care for and yourself. When answering the Advisory Officers questions it is important you take time to explain the situation accurately and in as much detail as possible. 

We all like to be positive about ourselves and our family and focus on things which we are good at or things we can do for ourselves. However it is very important that you tell the Advisory Officer if the person you are caring for has problems with personal care such as toileting, washing or dressing etc. It is also important that you focus in on any problems you have in helping the person you care for, this may be because of a medical condition or illness you have. It is also important you inform them if you work or study full or part time. Just because your caring it does not mean you will automatically have to give up working or your studies.

By giving this type of information to the Social Care Team can they have a clear picture of the situation. They can then access whether they can help you or not. Sometimes Social Care are unable to help at the time of your call to them. In these instances although they may not be able to help they may be able to put you in contact with agencies in your local area that will be able to help you. However even if the Advisory Officer does not feel you are eligible for an assessment you may still request one. You may find it useful to obtain a copy of the Carersnet carers local information book which you can download in pdf from this site. Click here to go to the information books

last updated April 2008