The Community Care (Assessment of Needs) (Scotland) Regulations 2002

Explanatory Note

(This note does not form part of the Regulations)

These Regulations are made under the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 (“the Act”). Regulation 2 makes transitional provisions modifying section 12A(1) and (2) of the 1968 Act (regulation 2(1)). By regulation 2(2), a local authority shall regard a relevant person (as defined in regulation 1(2)) as being a person in need of services and the duty to carry out an assessment under section 12A(1)(a) of the 1968 Act shall not apply. Paragraph (3) provides that a local authority, where it does not intend to exercise its power to assess needs, shall, on receipt of a request, decide that the person has needs that call for the provision of a service and those needs shall be treated as such care as the person is receiving from the care home service. Paragraph (4) applies where a local authority does not make an assessment. In such a case, it relieves the local authority of the duty to consult a medical practitioner in accordance with section 12A(2) of the 1968 Act when deciding whether the needs of a person call for the provision of nursing care.

A “relevant person” is defined as a person who is receiving a care home service, including the provision of care, who received that service immediately before 1st April 2002, who before 1st July 2003 requests the local authority to provide or secure provision of care and, in the case of a person receiving only personal care, personal support or care of a kind mentioned in schedule 1 to the Act, is aged 65 or over (regulation 1(2)).