FAQs

A Care leavers health summary is a summary of your health that includes physical, emotional health history and immunisations you have had since you were a child. It will be given to you at age 17 after your last health assessment by your social worker.

If you’re feeling unwell, unsure or if you want health advice and guidance for non-life threatening emergencies you can call NHS 111 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Telephone: 111

You can also access health advice and guidance or find your nearest service online through NHS Choices.

Visit: www.nhs.uk

Most pharmacies offer a consultation service for minor issues click here for a list of pharmacies in Southwark.

For anything else go the support page for a full list of organisations, or speak to your personal adviser if you need advice.

You can find a GP near you using the NHS website. It’s worth comparing GP practices in your area, to see which services they offer or if they’re accessible. You can also ask someone you trust for advice. When you have found a practice you like, you’ll have to formally register with it as an NHS patient by submitting a registration form to them. The GMS1 form (PDF, 156kb) is available at the practice, or you can download it from the link.

Forms may vary slightly, and some practices use their own version.

When you have completed and returned the form, NHS England will transfer your medical records to your new practice and write to you to confirm your registration as a patient with that practice.

If you’re registering a child under 5, you’ll have the option of registering them for the Child Health Promotion Programme.

This means your child will be invited for regular health and development checks. Ask the practice for more details.

If you have no proof of address or identification

Some GP practices may ask for proof of identity when you register, especially when you register children in your care.

This may be used to check your details match with the information held on the NHS central patient registry and that your previous medical notes are passed on to the new practice.

You should not be refused registration or appointments because you do not have a proof of address or personal identification at hand.

It’s not considered a reasonable ground to refuse registration.

This also applies if you’re an asylum seeker, refugee, homeless patient or overseas visitor, whether lawfully in the UK or not.

If you fall under one of these patient groups, download a patient leaflet by clicking on the links above and bring it with you when you register with a GP practice.

If you have problems registering with the practice, there’s advice on what do to and where to go for further support. Don’t forget, you can ask your personal adviser for help to do this.

Everyone should be able to access good-quality NHS dental services.

There is no need to register with a dentist in the same way as with a GP because you are not bound to a catchment area. 

Simply find a dental practice that’s convenient for you, whether it’s near your home or work, and phone them to see if there are any appointments available. If you do not have a regular dental practice or are new to the area, you can search for an NHS dentist near you on the NHS website.

Once you find a dental practice, you may have to fill in a registration form at your first visit, which is purely to add you to their patient database. Your personal adviser can help you with this if you wish.

Most high street Opticians offer NHS services. You can find your nearest one by entering your postcode into the NHS website.

It’s recommended that most people should get their eyes tested every two years. If you’re eligible for a free NHS sight or eye test, the NHS pays for it and you won’t be charged. There are many reasons that may give you entitlement to a sight test covered by the NHS.

These include if you:

• are aged under 16*
• are a full-time student aged 16, 17 or 18*
• receive Income Support*
• receive Income-based Jobseekers Allowance*
• receive Income-related Employment and Support Allowance*
• receive Tax Credit and are named on a valid NHS Tax Credit Exemption Certificate*
• are named on a valid HC2 certificate
• are registered blind/partially sighted
• suffer from diabetes/glaucoma
• are considered to be at risk of glaucoma by an ophthalmologist
• are a prisoner on leave
• have been prescribed complex lenses under the NHS optical voucher scheme

If you are in a group marked by an asterix (*) you may be entitled to an optical voucher to contribute towards the cost of your spectacles/contact lenses too. If you’re unsure what to do next, ask your personal adviser to help you.

There is also a new bursary of £1,000 payable in instalments to young people entering a full apprenticeship. This is paid by the training provider or employer and is claimed from the Department for Education (DfE).

When you start a job, we want to help! We can provide you with job-related expenses such as clothing for work and interviews, help with travel expenses until you are on your feet and money for lunches or other food until you are paid. We will agree this as part of your pathway plan.

We have a specialist employment and education adviser who takes over from the virtual school at 18. Their job is to work with you to help you find the training, job and education that is right for you.

Southwark Works provide personal, confidential, one-to-one support.

For more information, contact Matthew Izekor (Specialist Employment Advisor) on 020 7525 0652 or:

Telephone: 020 7740 8200 / 0800 052 0540

Email: info@southwarkworks.org.uk

The Local Authority may owe duties to some care leavers over the age of 25. Where a former relevant child is pursuing an appropriate programme of education or training which commenced before their 25th birthday with the agreement of the Local Authority, the Local Authority will; continue to appoint a personal adviser, undertake an assessment of need; and prepare a pathway plan; and to the extent the person’s educational or training needs require it, provide financial assistance for as long as the former relevant child pursues the programme of education or training.

Triple planning of pathway plans is relevant if you are an Asylum seeking young person. Planning may have to be based around short-term achievable goals whilst your entitlement to remain in the UK is being determined. For the majority of unaccompanied children who do not have permanent immigration status, transition planning should initially take a dual or triple planning perspective, which, over time should be refined as the young person’s immigration status is resolved. Planning cannot pre-empt the outcome of any immigration decision and may be based on:

• A transitional plan during the period of uncertainty when the care leaver is in the UK without permanent immigration status;
• A longer-term perspective plan should the care leaver be granted long-term permission to stay in the UK (for example through the grant of Refugee Status); and
• A return to their country of origin at any appropriate point or at the end of the immigration consideration process, should that be necessary because the care leaver decides to leave the UK or is required to do so.

• Your Pathway Plan should be reviewed every six months, but you can ask for it to be reviewed at any time.
• If there are any major changes in your life your Pathway Plan should be reviewed and you should be given a signed copy of the new plan.