Fair access to care services
Introducing clear, published criteria to describe eligibility for care services is intended to lead to fair and consistent decisions about who will get help from the local authority. At the heart of the Government's guidance is the principle that there should just be one decision about this: that is, should people be helped or not?
We need criteria because, although we are able to help many people stay safe and remain independent, we can't offer help to everyone who asks for it, or meet all the needs of people we help. To stay within our budget we have to direct our help to people whose needs put them at greatest risk and the criteria help us make decisions that are as fair and consistent as possible.
Dorset County Council has decided that it will meet those needs which are critical or substantial. To see how "critical" and "substantial" are defined, please click on the link below.
- Fair access to care: the four bands of need
The Department of Health has issued guidance to local authorities to help them decide who is eligible for social care services. Local authorities must decide what levels or bands of need they will meet. The guidance describes four bands of need: Critical, Substantial, Moderate, Low.
