About the Team - Single Point of Access

Single Point of Access (SPA) staff are responsible for assessing individuals who appear to have an eligible need under the Care Act.

They will also be available for any queries that ASCD (Adult Social Care Direct) are no longer to deal with but are not identified for longer-term care management.

The following actions may be required:

• Arrange and attend planning meetings;
• Completion of a Care Act assessment;
• Completion of a Care & Support Plan;
• Request for Financial assessments;
• Mental Capacity Assessments (1 & 2 where appropriate);
• Complete referrals to other agencies;
• Complete a review (2 - 6 weeks depending on the level of need and service provision);
• Transfer summary observation to another team if longer-term involvement is required along with any other relevant documentation being reassigned to the appropriate team;
• MDT (Multi-Disciplinary Team) request where there are no obvious social care needs (Gateshead Housing Services for example); SPA will attend to gather info and offer advice. This will then be passed to Locality Team if social care needs are identified;
• In rare cases, there may be a need for a joint visit from the SPA and Locality worker.