My Life Assessment (MLA) and Adult Carer Assessment and Support Plan
Both the MLA and new Adult Carer Assessment and Support Plan collect protected characteristics data (people always have the option to decline / prefer not to say). Successful collation of this data will help in at least three different ways. First, and when collected during assessment, it will allow subsequent care planning decisions to be taken in a way that can be sensitive to and cognisant of any protected characteristics. Secondly, from a service point of view, if a service notices a particular protected characteristic is changing (e.g. the number of people with protected characteristic X or Y is increasing), it can take decisions accordingly (perhaps about how the service changes its accessibility). And thirdly, from an HSCP wide perspective, planning decisions can be taken in a similar way. For example, if the HSCP identifies an underserved protected characteristic, it can consider what action may be taken to address this. Ensuring staff are familiar with protected characteristics will help educate staff in their role as duty bearers and service users as rights holders.
