What is a care assessment?
A care assessment is an opportunity for us to look at a person's needs and work with them to find the best methods to provide care and support. You do not need to pay for a care assessment.
Request a care assessment
You, a family member, friend or advocate can contact our Careline service to arrange an assessment. Careline is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
What happens next?
A social worker/community care assessor will come to visit you and your carer or family member. We will talk to you about your needs and work with you to find out what services will best help you to live a more independent life.
You will be sent a self assessment form to complete before you meet with the assessor. The form will help you to think about your needs.
Don’t worry if you can’t complete it before your appointment, the assessor will go through it with you to make sure that we have all the information we need to help you. You can also get help with completing the form from your carer, a family member, friend or an advocate.
You can download a copy of the self assessment form here for information.
With your permission, we may need to share information about you with other agencies that become involved with your care such as the Police and Fire Service, or others such as health professionals.
We aim to complete assessments within 28 days. In an emergency we aim to start the assessment and provide help within 24 hours.
During the assessment, we will determine if you meet the eligibility criteria as set out in the fair access to care services.
Please note, if you are in hospital, a social worker will discuss the help you and your carer will need when you leave.
Care plan
Following your assessment a care plan will be agreed with you. It will detail the support that you need and will detail the following:
- What help you will get and who will provide it.
- When and how often you will get help.
- Contact details of the team who make sure you get help.
- When help will start and when reviews will take place to make sure we are still meeting your needs.
- Details of care needs which cannot be met and why.
- What to do if you are unhappy with the service.
Will I be charged for the services I receive?
You may be charged for some services, but we will carry out a financial assessment to work out if you need to contribute to your care and how much. We will also make sure you are receiving all the benefits that you are entitled to. See our ‘paying for care’ page for more information.
Advocacy
If you would like some support with your assessment and care planning you can use an advocate - someone who offers independent support.
You can find out more about advocacy on the Advocacy rights hub website or by phoning 0151 707 1900.