Community Services

Community Services is the Council Directorate incorporating Social Services (adult provision), and Culture and Leisure.

Aims and ambitions

1. Meeting the person, not just the need – ensuring that the needs of the whole person are recognised so that services are designed around them
2. Promoting independence – enabling people to live a fulfilled life, making the most of their capacity and potential
3. Providing wider choice – having access to a choice of, and control of, good quality services
4. Improving access – enabling people to access services which meet, and are responsive to, their individual and diverse needs
5. Joining up and innovating – working in partnership to develop the capacity to achieve change and deliver our priorities

Achievements and priorities

For more information about what we achieved in 2008/09 and our priorities for 2009/10 - 2012/13 please view the document below:

Community Services Achievements and Priorities (149KB)

Our Service Standards

Assessment & Care

• If you are eligible for a care assessment, we will carry it out within 28 days
• Once your assessment is complete, we will put your care package in place within 28 days unless further assessment is needed
• We will provide you with a statement of need and a care plan, which is an agreement of how we will help you
• Your service provision and statement of need will be reviewed each year to ensure it continues to meet your needs

Commissioning and Contract Management - Telecare

• We will offer you an appointment to fit your TeleCare equipment within 2 working days if we assess that you urgently need it
• We will offer you an appointment to fit TeleCare equipment within 15 working days in all standard situations
• We will respond to your equipment call at the 24 hour Monitoring Centre within 60 seconds
• In an emergency the Telecare Responder Service will be with you within 60 minutes of the automatic call from your Telecare equipment
• We will replace or repair any TeleCare equipment / Community Alarm within 48 hours when the need is urgent
• We will replace or repair any TeleCare equipment / Community Alarm within 10 working days in non-urgent circumstances

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Brokerage Service

• We will give you a service agreement that outlines our responsibilities and tells you what you are expected to pay towards the cost.

Museum and Culture

• We will undertake regular visitor surveys and use the information to develop our service

Day Care Services

• We will review your activity plans every 6 months and make changes if necessary to reflect your needs
• Following your assessment for day care your service will commence within 10 working days
• If we provide you with transport we will collect you within 15 minutes either side of your appointment time or will telephone you if we are going to be late
• We will set up a bank account to help you manage your money if you want us to, and aim to do this within 28 days of receiving all your relevant information.

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Home Care

• Should we need to change your Home Care worker or time of visit we will discuss this with you in advance and wherever possible at least 1 week  beforehand
• We will give you a service user guide and a letter confirming which tasks are to be completed with the time and days of the service, the name of your care worker, manager and contact number within 48 hours of care management assessment.

Homeless Assessment

• If you apply to be registered homeless and provide us with all relevant documents, we will complete your application in 33 days
• Is you ask for a review of your homelessness application, we will make a decision within 56 days

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Housing Demand

• If you apply to go on the Hackney housing register and submit all the correct documents, we will process your application in 20 days
• If your property is now too big for you and you tell us you're interested in the home under occupation scheme, we will visit you within three days

Housing Needs/Temporary Accommodation

• If you report an emergency repair in your temporary accommodation (hostel), we will make sure it's completed within 24 hours.

Housing options

• If you alert us that your family are in danger of being made homeless, we will visit you within 48 hours
• If you come into Christopher Addison House, you will be able to see a housing advisor to deal with your case within 20 minutes

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Leisure Centres

• We will undertake a visitor survey every year in our leisure facilities and use the information to develop our service
• We will make sure pool temperature is between 26-31°C and display daily readings  in the pool reception
• We will monitor the water quality in our pools throughout the day to ensure it meets industry standards

Libraries

• If you are unable to get to the library because of long term infirmity or disability, we will visit you within 10 working days from the receipt of your request
• If you ask for help using a PC, we will offer you a basic skills tuition session within five working days
• If you ask to be shown around one of our libraries, we will book you a library tour within five days
• If you ask for a book or other item we don't have on the shelf, we will do our best to supply it in seven working days

Meals on wheels

• Meals on wheels will commence within 4 days of your assessment
• All our hot meals meet government nutritional requirements and will be delivered at a temperature of between 74-84 degrees

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Occupational therapy

• If you require simple equipment following your assessment we will install it within 7 days
• We aim to complete your assessment as quickly as possible and the maximum time you will have to wait for an assessment will be 28 days from the date we receive your request

Parks

• We will maintain cleanliness levels in parks and will respond to reports of litter, fly posting or graffiti within 24 hours
• We will inspect children's play equipment daily but If you report broken children's play equipment, we will repair it or make safe within 48 hours
• If you report a dangerous tree or branches in one of our parks, we will remove it within 24 hours
• We will repair public toilets in parks that are out of use within 24 hours of them being reported to us

Residential & Nursing care

• We will give you a service agreement that outlines our responsibilities and tells you what you are expected to pay towards the cost
• We will review your placement between 4 and 6 weeks to make sure the Residential home is meeting your needs
• We will carry out a review of your placement once a year to make sure that the service is meeting your needs

Supported Living

• We will set up a bank account to help you manage your money if you want us to, and aim to do this within 28 days of receiving all your relevant information

Transport

• If we provide you with transport we will collect you within 15 minutes either side of your appointment time or will telephone you if we are going to be late.

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Page updated: 11 Jun 2010