Care manager

[Juggler]

Okay - I'm going to sound very ignorant now, but what is a Care Manager? What do they do and what support do they give?
I ask because I recently got my dad's name down on the Age UK day centre list. We were told that we needed a Care Manager - this would reduce costs. Went through an assessment meeting. Now have a named person. So now what?

[Parsifal]

Briefly, Care Managers fulfil the role that social workers used to, many are social workers but they can also now be drawn from other professions, they carry out social care assessments and implement and monitor care plans, whether through directly commissioned services or personal budgets.

[Juggler]

Thanks Parsifal! So does this mean Dad should now expect contact from her and a care plan put in place. Wondered whether it was something I should follow up as he's received a letter with a name but nothing else.

[Parsifal]

It depends on what the letter says, if she has identified herself as your father's care manager she should soon be in contact to make an appointment to assess your father's needs, if you do not hear anything else for a few days it might be worth ringing her and checking the current waiting time for an assessment, these teams are often overloaded so if the waiting time is significant and the need for services is urgent it can be worth making this clear and giving the reasons why so that your father moves up the priority list.

[Juggler]

Okay - thanks!