Information and advice

Adults’ Services has a strong focus on the provision of early support and preventative services to enable people to remain living independently within their community for as long as possible and preventing or delaying the development of their social care needs.

Information and Advice

Under the Care Act 2014, we have a duty to establish and maintain an information and advice service relating to care and support for all people in our county.  We should co-ordinate and make effective use of other statutory, voluntary and/or private sector information and advice resources.

Getting good-quality information and advice means that people should be able to easily access support, make well-informed decisions and take control of their care.

We provide an extensive range of information and advice in a variety of formats. This comprises a range of leaflets and booklets, online information about how to get adult social care support, and health and wellbeing information (see channels below).

Living well in your community: Your West Sussex Care Guide

Our main publication for people self-funding their care is our popular West Sussex Care Guide which is distributed widely across the county. It provides comprehensive and invaluable information to help people make good decisions about their care with advice on improving health and wellbeing and support to live independently.

West Sussex Connect to Support

The West Sussex Connect to Support website is our main online source of information and advice on ways to live healthy, safe and independent lives.  The website signposts people to local community activities and care services and there is an area where people can find the right equipment to support them at home.  There is also a carer’s hub which provides information, advice and resources specifically for family and friend carers and a Professional Zone where all our staff guidance and policy and framework documents are published (staff guidance is in a password protected area).

Number of users visiting the website  =  114,707 (116,463 in 2022-23) – average 9,559 per month (9,705 in 2022-23).

Artificial intelligence

Adults’ Services  is at the forefront of the council’s first stages of using artificial intelligence (AI) and one area of focus is improving customer experience.

Carewise care funding advice scheme 

Around 60% of people living in residential care are able to fund the costs themselves from investments, benefits, pensions and other income.  We work with financial experts in planning for later life, Age UK West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex Partners in Care (a representative body for independent providers of care) to provide trustworthy specialist information and advice about choosing and paying for long-term care.

To provide people with additional confidence, the Carewise-approved care fees specialists are:

• accredited by the Society of Later Life Advisers (SOLLA);
• checked by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS); and
• trained in safeguarding adults.

In 2023-24:

• 345 people were referred to Carewise care fees specialists (2022-23 - 325)
• 6,798 visitis to the website (7,367 in 2022-23).

Age UK West Sussex Brighton and Hove provide a free Money Advice Service as part of the Carewise scheme.

During 2023-24:

• 4,504 individual money advice sessions were held (5,662 in 2022-23). The lower number of sessions held in 2023-24 was the result of the increased complexity of people’s situations due to the after effects of the COVID 19 pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
• £4,309,065 million (£3.4 million in 2022-23) additional benefits accessed for people using their service

Find out more about Carewise by visiting www.carewiseadvice.com where people can ‘request a call back’ from one of the care fees specialists.  People can also call 0330 2227000 for more information or to ask for a referral to a care fees specialist.

Adults’ CarePoint 1

This is our customer service centre which provides information to people about adult social care, referring and signposting to relevant support within the council and in the community as appropriate.

From April 23 to March 24, Adults’ CarePoint received approximately 68,000 calls (74,000 in 2022-23) and more than 33,000 email contacts (34,000 in 2022-23).

Countywide information and advice service provided by Citizens Advice West Sussex working with Arun and Chichester Citizens Advice is funded by the county council in partnership with all seven district and boroughs councils. The ‘Community Advice and Support Service’ provides general advice, with a key focus on working-age adults and families. This year Citizens Advice has seen 58,407 clients, dealt with 158,800 issues and 42,096 advice cases. Income generated for clients amounted to £16,526,530.

Countywide information and advice service 65+ - Age UK West Sussex Brighton and Hove offers residents, their families, carers, and representatives, an easy to access, comprehensive, independent service to address issues affecting people in later life. This includes a Money Advice Service which is part of the county council’s Carewise care funding advice scheme. The service has seen 2,747 clients, dealt with 6,633 issues, 357 advice cases, 3,506 benefit enquiries and 699 community care enquires.

Prevention and early support

Prevention Assessment Team: A collaboration of partners from the county council, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust, Age UK West Sussex, Brighton and Hove and Guild Care, provide information, advice and guidance to people 18 years and over. Read more about the service later in this section.

Tackling Social Isolation services (including befriending) 65+ - Age UK West Sussex Brighton and Hove are the lead provider, working with the Royal Voluntary Service, Carers Support West Sussex, Mind West Sussex and Community Transport, to deliver the service. Guild Care have the contract for delivering the service in Worthing.

This is an innovative model that includes some centre-based activities but also reaches out into communities to ensure there is support and activity for our more rurally isolated individuals and communities. Programmes are co-produced with service users and offer a wide range of social, cultural, physical and health and wellbeing opportunities.

Take Home from Hospital and Settle Service delivered by Age UK West Sussex Brighton and Hove in partnership with Guild Care and the Support at Home after Hospital Service run by Age UK West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, both include the provision of some information and advice.  This year 1,508 older people were supported to return home safely, be risk assessed and have practical support to re-settle at home. 1,461 people also received further visits for up to six weeks, to help them regain their confidence and independence.

Healthwatch West Sussex  is an independent consumer champion (‘watchdog’) for all health and social care services in the county. Healthwatch provides information, signposting and advice about access to health and social care services. This year there have been 9,510 enquiries to the helpdesk and Healthwatch has engaged with 46,519 people.

Safe and Well Programme  -  Working together with Public Health, the Fire and Rescue Service provide free Safe and Well Visits to vulnerable people. The home visits assess potential risks and provide information and advice on fire safety and health and wellbeing, and where appropriate fit smoke alarms or other specialist fire detection equipment free of charge. There were 5,355 Safe and Well visits during 2023-24, an increase of 14%. 601 referals were made to other agencies for additional support.