Trusted Assessors

This new and exciting project has been designed with WSPIC and WSCC to base assessors in acute hospitals to support care homes to undertake assessments for people needing a placement to discharge from hospital.

The assessors, who have experience in social care management, are employed by WSPIC and will operate as an extension to the care home where the care home requests support to undertake an assessment.

We understand the challenges in communicating between your home and the hospital or ward. 

We know it can be difficult to undertake an accurate and detailed assessment remotely when you are unable to visit the hospital in person.

They may also support the assessment of people looking to return to their care home following a hospital admission. In all cases, the receiving care home will make the decision whether they can accept the referral and meet the person’s needs.

The trusted assessors are available in Worthing Hospital and St Richards Hospital on weekdays during office hours up until 31 March 2024.

How can they help?

• Telephone conversations with the care home
• Telephone conversations with relatives and/or LPoA
• Facilitating video calls between the patient and care home
• Communicating more quickly and effectively with the ward
• Completing the care homes own assessment paperwork for admissions

Who can they help?

The trusted assessors may be used to support any discharges to a West Sussex care or nursing home including: –

• Those eligible for local authority funding and where WSCC’s Combined Placement and Sourcing Team (CPST) has made the referral to the care home
• Those eligible for Continuing Health Care funding and where the CHC sourcing team have made the referral to the nursing home
• Those who are funding the care/nursing home themselves and where they or friends and family are supporting the sourcing
• Those who are funding the care/nursing home themselves and where they are being supported by a third-party organisation such as Care Home Select or Careseekers
• Those who are already care/nursing home residents who have been admitted to hospital and are ready to return.

For more information about the process, roles and responsibilities, please click here