Hoarding Panel

Case Summary Referral Form

Date of Hoarding Panel:

Person making referral
Name
Agency
Address
Email Address
Phone Number
Client Details
Client’s full name
Client’s full address and postcode
Client’s DOB and age
Client’s ethnicity
Tenancy Issues
(i.e. RSL, Private Tenant if known)
Daily Living Needs
(mobility, personal care, nutrition)
Diagnoses & Health conditions
Capacity
Has an assessment been completed? Please specify findings of assessment
Has the client consented to this referral?
Risks to client
Risks to others
What is the Clutter Rating of the property?
(see appendix two)
Please identify any hazards (i.e. does the person hoard hazardous substances such as petrol)
Environmental Conditions (please specify, identifying any signs of filth or vermin)
What services is the client receiving?
(detail the professional support provided, including package of care whether LBB or self funded)
What has been done with the client in terms of intervention, and what was the outcome of these interventions?
Reason for referral(what do you want from the panel?)

When making a referral to the panel, please contact the London Fire Brigade for a Home Safety Fire Visit using this referral form

Has the client been referred to London Fire Brigade for a Home Safety Fire Visit? (see appendix one) / Yes / No
Date of referral:
If No, is a Home Safety Fire Visit required? / Yes / No
Please identify any risks
(e.g. person is a smoker, mobility issues, unsteady piles of material that may fall)
Partner Response:

PLEASE ATTACH Copy of LBB Risk Assessment (or Oxleas Risk Assessment if applicable)

Appendix One

Home Fire Safety Initiative Referrals / Procedure No:4
Summary:
Guidance to LBB ECHS Care Services Division staff and other partner agencies on making referrals to the London Fire Brigade for free home fire safety visits for adults at risk.
  1. INTRODUCTION

The Home Fire Safety Initiative promotes effective partnership working between health and social care, the Police and the London Fire Brigade to identify adults with care and support needs who may be living in situations which represent a fire risk.

The objective is to prevent fire tragedies by responsible information-sharing about risks for adults with care support needs to access free smoke alarms and professional fire safety advice.

All health and social care staff, as part of their duty of carehave a responsibility to use health and social care assessment processes, including the assessment of mental capacity, to clarify risks for adults who appear to have chosen to live in situations which may represent a risk to their health and well-being.

This procedure should be read in conjunction with the care services guide to assessment and care management guidance on identifying,appraising and managing risk.

  1. PROCEDURE

2.1The London Fire Brigade is recommending all professionals that assess risk as part of their duty to care to identify factors that increase the likelihood of a fire risk for an adult with care and support needs.

FIRE RISK FACTOR CHECKLIST / YES / NO
Does anyone in the household smoke?
Do they smoke in bed?
Does anyone in the household use candles?
Is the home fitted with at least one working smoke alarm?
Is there a history of near misses with fire or smoking materials?
Does your client have any mental health problems, learning disabilities or dementia which may affect their perception of risk?
Does anyone in the house use or misuse drugs (prescribed or otherwise) or alcohol which may impair reactions to an outbreak of fire?
Is there evidence of hoarding in the client’s home?
Are there any obstacles or clutter which would impede exit from the premises in an emergency?
Would your client be able to escape from a fire without assistance from other people?
Has there been any recent decline in health or mobility?
If yes, refer for a re-assessment of need and risk factors

2.2The contact referral, initial and overview assessment forms on the LBB Care First social care case record system contain prompts to ask the person if there is a working smoke alarm, to record the answer and consider other fire risk factors. The question is mandatory on the initial and review assessment forms.

2.3The worker should seek the person’s consent to make a referral for a free Home Fire Safety visit from the London Fire Brigade if there is no working smoke alarm and the checklist indicates risk factors increasing the person’s vulnerability to the risk of fire.

The worker should be prepared to undertake a joint visit with the fire prevention officer to facilitate access, or to arrange with the adult’s family, key worker or support worker to be present at the visit. The visit should be initiated if the adult is isolated or non-compliant and refusing access to LFB. Full contact details should be provided on the referral form.

2.4Where the person is immobile, living alone and is unable to call the Fire Brigade when the smoke alarm sounds, or to escape from the property without assistance, workers should always consider and discuss a referral to Carelink for a Telecare smoke alarm which is linked to the contact centre.

2.5Where the condition of the property may require statutory intervention by the LBB Environmental Services Public Protection team because the property meets the Public Health Act 1936 definition of “filthy, verminous or unwholesome”, a referral for a free fire safety check and installation of smoke alarms will be offered under the partnership Hoarding Protocol between LBB and LBB Environmental Services Department see Appendix 2 on page 5).

2.6The Home Fire Safety Visit referral form is available on the London Borough of Bromley website on the following link:

Initial ResponseTeam will act as the single point of contact to receive and record Home Fire Safety visit referrals from Bromley Council staff, and contracted providers of community care services, Bromley Healthcare, Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust, Princess Royal University Hospital and the Police.

Complete the referral form and send it by email to:

or by post to:

Initial Response

North Block

London Borough of Bromley

Civic Centre

Bromley BR1 3UH

DO NOT send it direct to the London Fire Brigade email address on the referral form. This email address can be used for subsequent contact with the London Fire Brigade following a referral.

2.7Initial Response will forward the referrals to the London Fire Brigade and will compile a quarterly return of referrals received. The returns will be sent to the Borough Fire Commander at Bromley Fire Station, and to the Education Care and Health Services Quality Assurance team. Performance data on the number of referrals generated by health and social care staff will be reported to the Bromley Safeguarding Adults Board (BSAB) and published in the mid-year and annual reports.

2.8Managers should inform newly appointed and locum care services staff about the Home Fire Safety Initiative at induction, and how to refer service users whose home environment increases their vulnerability in the event of a fire.

2.9The domiciliary care provider forum has been informed about the initiative. Commissioners and care brokers should alert care agencies how to report any existing or escalating fire risks for service users.

3.FIRE SAFETY AWARENESS TRAINING

Home Fire Safety Training sessions are provided free of charge at the Civic Centre twice a year by the London Fire Brigade Community Safety teams for:

  • home care agencies,
  • community nurses and other community based health staff,
  • supported living housing providers and their support staff,
  • neighbourhood housing managers,
  • care managers and other health and social care staff working within ECHS and Oxleas or other commissioned provider services.

Health and social care providers should ensure that their staff have the opportunity to attend these sessions to raise their personal awareness of fire safety to protect themselves and their families, and to train them in their Home Fire Safety Initiative role to recognise and react to fire safety risks by encouraging the adults with care and support needs with whom they are working, to accept a free home fire safety visit to benefit from professional advice to keep them safe from fire.

Appendix Two