1. Bromley Well - some basics and definitions

A client is the person using Bromley Well service(s)

 

A referrer is someone such as a professional, relative or friend who contacts Bromley Well on someone else’s (a client’s) behalf, with that person’s permission.

 

Bromley Well services are provided by 4 local charities:

Age UK Bromley and Greenwich;

Bromley Mencap;

Citizens Advice Bromley;

South East London Mind (formerly Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich Mind).

Services are provided by a team of trained and vetted staff and volunteers.

People using the service do not pay. Services are funded by Bromley Council and the local NHS in Bromley.

As of October 2022 the only exceptions are:-

  • To use the Handyperson service free of charge you need to be referred by a health or social care professional. If you want to use the service directly yourself, we charge £40 per hour for labour + cost of materials that may be required. For further information please contact handy.person@bromleywell.org.uk 

 

2. Using Bromley Well services

The majority of Bromley Well services are for people aged 18+ who live within the London Borough of Bromley.

Exceptions to this are:

  • Young Carers Support Service which is for children and young people aged between 4 and 19 who live in the borough;
  • Support service for people with autism which is for people aged 16+ living in the borough.

 

 

Messages cannot be left - please email us if you prefer not to wait  spa@bromleywell.org.uk

 

We look at our email every working day and aim to respond within 5 working days.

 

We look at our email every working day and aim to respond within 5 working days. However due to the number of people wanting our support this might be longer.

 

Yes if the person you are calling about is a resident of Bromley Borough and we have received their permission to discuss their issue with a third party such as yourself. Please use our referral form to indicate you have their consent.

 

Yes, if the issue that you are phoning about is concerning you, the “carer”. If the issue is concerning a person living outside the borough then we would provide a telephone number of a service in their area for them to contact.

 

If you have been housed in another council area but still pay council tax to Bromley council you might be able to use Bromley Well services. However, it may be easier to use services closer to you and we would encourage you to do so.

 

 

Most of Bromley Well Services are free.

As of October 2022 the only exceptions are:-

  • To use the Handyperson service free of charge you need to be referred by a health or social care professional. If you want to use the service directly yourself, we charge £40 per hour for labour + cost of materials that may be required. For further information please contact handy.person@bromleywell.org.uk  

 

No, Bromley Well services are not means tested. By means tested we mean provided on the basis of how much money you have. 

 

Our Contact Centre (SPA) which takes phone calls from the general public is open Monday - Saturday 9am-5pm. The number is Freephone 0808 278 7898. You can also email us any time spa@bromleywell.org.uk or if you want to refer a patient, family member, friend etc, you can complete our online referral form.

However, most other services within Bromley Well operate between 9am-5pm Monday–Friday only.

 

To ensure we provide you with the best possible service all enquiries must in the first instance be directed to Bromley Well's Contact Centre. You can call  Freephone 0808 278 7898, email spa@bromleywell.org.uk or complete an online form if you are referring a patient, family member, friend etc.

We have regular, scheduled sessions at various locations in the borough when people can drop in to see us. For the current drop-ins please take a look at our What’s On webpage

 

Yes you can of course phone Bromley Well whenever you wish. However, we will be asking you confidential questions which you may not want other people to hear. Additionally, you may not want to disclose your issue with other members of the public/friends/family around.

 

You have dialled the right number.

This number is the first point of contact for all Bromley Well services.  It is run by Citizens Advice Bromley.

You can access information, advice and guidance on this number as well as all the other services provided by Bromley Well.

 

Citizens Advice Bromley is part of Bromley Well and we take information from you because Bromley Well provides many more services than just Citizens Advice, some of which might be helpful for you.

With your agreement, we may refer you to more than one of our services. It could also be the case that an appointment with Citizens Advice is not necessary.

 

In order to provide Bromley Well services we have to record personal information such as contact details and the nature of your issue. We only record what is necessary and never share your details with anyone else without your permission. More information about how we use your personal information can be found in our Privacy Policy.

 

We hope we can help but sometimes your issue is better dealt with by other organisations / services.

We have extensive contacts with other local and national services which we can signpost you to.

If we’re unable to help we will always try to point you towards an alternative.

 

Bromley Well services help people maintain their health, wellbeing and independence. If you need to contact Bromley Council check their website for council services telephone numbers or visit their customer service section on Bromley Council website.

 

3. Referring someone to Bromley Well

Anyone can get in touch to ask for help, either for themselves or, with consent, for other people. This includes:-

  • Family members, friends, neighbours and carers.

However, if the person you are helping is not with you to give consent when you phone us, then we will ask you to either call back when you are with them or complete an online referral form to show you have their consent. 

  • Health and social care staff, please complete an online referral form whenever possible because we try to keep our phone lines free for clients.
  • GPs in the borough – you can refer patients to any Bromley Well service via your online SPE (Single Point of Entry) form.
  • People working in services like fire, police, education, care services, housing, job centres, please use the online referral form.

 We have staff and volunteers monitoring our email on a daily basis and aim to respond within 48hrs.

 

Referring someone to Bromley Well is simple - please complete the online referral form.

Alternatively you can download a referral and consent form from the Bromley Well website. Then send the completed form to spa@bromleywell.org.uk. Please send the form by secure email.

Details of all of the above are on our website here: Make a Referral

 

Our email address for referrals is spa@bromleywell.org.uk.

If you’re sending the referral form from a personal email address such as @hotmail.co.uk you can give the form a password. Instructions are here. Send the form attached to an email and send a second email to spa@bromleywell.org.uk with the password in it.

If you are a professional referring a client, your organisation may have encryption software such as Egress which you should use.

If you work for the NHS and want to use an nhs.net email please call us on 0208 315 1850.

 

If we received your referral and it did not have the correct signatures, permissions, contact information or was unclear about what support was needed for a client, we would reply to your email asking for more information, which will prolong the referral.

 

Yes - please use our online referral form which goes straight to our Contact Centre.

If you want to self refer - please use this online referral form

 

If you have referred someone to the Bromley Well Service and your referral form has been completed in full, we will refer that client directly to the Bromley Well service requested.

Once referred, we aim to contact clients within 5 working days and therefore we would not give an update on progress.

If however, the client has not heard from the Bromley Well service after this period then please get in touch. It is important to note, we will not be able to give an update unless the client has given third party permission for us to discuss their case with you.

4. How to complain

We continually review our services and welcome your feedback.

If you have received a service which you are not happy about, please see our Complaints Policy which explains how you can get in touch to tell us.

5. Zero tolerance of unacceptable behaviour

Our paid staff and volunteers work hard to give advice and support to all service users.

We aim to support you to make best use of Bromley Well, in ways that best meet your individual requirements.

However, there may be circumstances when warnings and / or the withdrawal of services might be considered or implemented. For example, we will not tolerate abusive language or violent behaviour, or discriminatory behaviour towards our staff, volunteers and other service users.

We will take the appropriate actions necessary to protect and ensure the safety of staff and volunteers. Where the client has acted in an aggressive, violent or discriminatory manner and/or Service Managers believe poses a risk to the safety of staff, volunteers or other clients, they may decide to exclude the client with immediate effect pending an investigation.  An exclusion may be temporary or permanent.  

For a copy of our Withdrawal of or Exclusion from Bromley Well Services Policy, please get in touch with admin@btse.org.uk.

If you are dissatisfied about the Bromley Well service you have received, please visit our complaints page.