Principles for maintaining continuity of care when moving across borders within the United Kingdom
Published 26 March 2015
© Crown copyright 2015
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/continuity-of-care-when-moving-across-borders-within-uk/principles-for-maintaining-continuity-of-care-when-moving-across-borders-within-the-united-kingdom
1. Introduction
These principles set out how responsible authorities in the United Kingdom should ensure continuity of care for adults who receive care and support and are moving to another country within the United Kingdom.
The aims of the principles are to maintain the adult’s wellbeing and prevent them from falling into crisis; ensure that the adult is at the centre of the process; and that responsible authorities should work together and share information in a timely manner to ensure needs are being met both on the day of the move and subsequently.
Responsible authorities should meet the adult’s assessed care needs and support the outcomes they want to achieve. It is recognised that those needs may be met in a different way when the adult moves to the new country.
These principles should be applied in a manner consistent with existing legislation for the delivery of care and support in each of the 4 UK countries.
2. Principles of cross-border continuity of care within the United Kingdom
2.1 The principles of cross-border cooperation are:
- Responsible authorities should ensure a person-centred process and take into account the outcomes an adult wishes to achieve.
- Responsible authorities should work together and share information about their local care and support system and services.
- The adult moving should be given relevant information, in an accessible format, about local care and support provision in the authority they are moving to.
- Responsible authorities should work together to support a move across national boundaries to ensure the adult’s care and support is continued during the move.
- Responsible authorities should share relevant information about the adult’s care and support needs and any other information which it believes necessary in a timely manner and with the consent of the adult involved.
2.2 Definition
‘Responsible authorities” means the local authority, Integration Authority or Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust, responsible for the assessment of an adult’s care during the period of their move.