Getting adult social care support
TopOfPageIn this section you can find out:
- Working out what help you need
- Eligibility criteria
- What happens after your care needs assessment?
- Getting a financial assessment
- How much you'll have to pay
WorkingWorking out what help you need
If you need advice, please talk to us.
Getting a care needs assessment
If you have any care or support needs you can ask us for a needs assessment.
The assessment will look at both your physical, mental and emotional needs. You might need help to get dressed or just an extra stair rail, but we'll also find out what's important to you, such as being able to carry on working or volunteering, or being able to meet your friends.
A trained person will chat to you about your needs and the sort of help you could benefit from.
The purpose of a care needs assessment is to:
- discuss your situation
- understand what your needs are
- help you to consider your own wellbeing
- find out how you can remain as independent as possible for as long as possible
You can ask for an assessment for yourself, including if you are caring for someone, or on behalf of someone else.
We will advise you on services or support that can help you based on the information you provide.
If you need an assessment for someone over 18
You can complete a self assessment if you or the person you are caring for is over 18.
If you're a carer
As a carer, you're also entitled to an assessment.
Complete a carer self assessment
What will happen at your care needs assessment
We will try to obtain a complete picture of your life and discuss your strengths; what is working well for you now and what your needs are.
In many cases, we will be able to provide information, advice and guidance to help you identify the services and support that you can arrange yourself.
In some circumstances, we may recommend that you have a period of reablement or short-term support before making longer-term arrangements.
In an emergency, we will make sure that you have the help that you need.
If we need to do a more detailed assessment, we will arrange an appointment with you. This is normally at your home.
We will discuss your situation, including:
- your personal care (like washing and getting dressed)
- household tasks
- health
- accommodation situation
- emotional needs and social activities
If you are caring for someone, we will also ask you about how caring affects your day-to-day life and things that you would like to achieve including work, education and social activities.
You can have someone with you at the assessment. They can speak on your behalf and represent your interests – called an advocate.
View more about independent advocacy, including a list of organisations who provide this service.
Contact us
If you have any questions about the assessment, please call 0300 300 8000.
EligibilityCriteriaEligibilityEligibility criteria
After an assessment we will decide if you are eligible for care and support.
The amount of support, or the way we offer to support you, will depend upon your individual needs and also what you want to achieve.
This is referred to as your ‘eligibility’ for support. All councils use the same national eligibility threshold to decide who qualifies for social care services, this is set by government and consists of 3 criteria all of which must be met.
You will be eligible for care and support from your local council if all of the following applies to you:
Your condition
The difficulties you are having relate to a physical or mental impairment or illness. This may include the following types of conditions:
- physical
- mental
- sensory
- learning/cognitive disabilities or illnesses
- brain injuries
- substance misuse
What you're able to do
We will then consider if due to your physical or mental impairment or illness, you are unable to achieve two or more of the following Care Act defined individual social care outcomes.
- managing personal care (washing, dressing and using the toilet)
- household management (paying bills, living somewhere clean and safe)
- having a nutritional diet
- building or maintaining relationships with people (family and friends)
- getting out and about and using facilities in your community
- accessing education, training or volunteering opportunities
- finding employment
- caring for someone else (including parenting)
Being unable to achieve these specified outcomes includes circumstances where you are:
- unable to achieve the outcome without assistance or prompting/reminding
- able to achieve the outcome with assistance but doing so causes you significant pain, distress or anxiety
- able to achieve the outcome with assistance but doing so endangers or is likely to endanger your health and safety or the health and safety of others
- able to achieve the outcome without assistance but it takes you significantly longer than would normally be expected
Impact on your wellbeing
We consider whether being unable to achieve the outcomes identified will have a significant negative impact on your wellbeing.
When we consider wellbeing, we think about the following
- personal dignity
- physical and mental health
- protection from abuse and neglect
- control over your own day to day life
- participation in work, education, training or recreation
- social and economic wellbeing
- domestic, family and personal relationships
- suitability of living accommodation
- your contribution to society
We will look to understand your needs in the context of what is important to you. We understand that the impact of needs may be different for different people, because what is important for one person’s wellbeing may not be the same for everyone else.
WhatHappensAfterWhat happens after your care needs assessment?
You will receive a written copy of your assessment.
After your assessment, we will decide if you are eligible for care and support.
If you are not eligible, we will provide you with information and advice on what can be done to meet or reduce your needs and what can be done to prevent or delay the development of needs in the future.
This may include information about other organisations that may be able to help you and any other support you might find useful.
If you have some eligible needs, we will agree with you which of your needs you would like us to meet and consider how we can help.
If you have eligible needs and want adult social care help to arrange support, we will work with you to develop a Care and Support Plan.
Care and Support Plan
A Care and Support Plan documents your needs from the assessment and includes:
- how they will be met
- who will meet them
- how much it will cost
We will involve you in this and explain your options. We want to make sure the support we provide helps you to remain healthy and happy.
We have to agree your Care and Support Plan. It will include:
- whether these needs meet the eligibility criteria
- the needs we will meet and how we will do it
- your desired outcomes – the things you wish to achieve in daily life
- your personal budget
- information and advice on what can be done to reduce your needs and to prevent or delay the development of needs in the future
- direct payments – details of the needs to be met by a direct payment and the amount and frequency of the payments
This easy read support-planning booklet (PDF 444.4KB) 
explains in simple terms the various elements that make up a Care and Support plan.
Errors in the assessment
If you feel that the information we have used is incorrect, or you have forgotten to tell us something, please let us know straight away.
Contact our customer service team on 0300 300 8000.
GettingAFinancialAssessmentGetting a financial assessment
If we have assessed your needs and you are eligible for care or support from us, we will carry out a financial assessment to determine how much you will have to pay towards your care.
Your social worker will provide you with a paying for care leaflet and financial assessment form. You need to complete this form and return to the Financial Assessment Team so that your financial assessment can be completed.
You can ask a family member or friend to help you complete the form. If you need support to complete the form, the Financial Assessment Team can arrange a telephone appointment to help you complete the form.
Find out more about the financial assessment process.
HowMuchHow much you'll have to pay
Social care is chargeable. There will be some exclusions. Following on from your needs assessment, which works out what support you need and how much it will cost to provide, we will complete a financial assessment to work out how much of that cost we will pay, and how much you’ll need to pay yourself.
Calculating how much you might have to pay will depend on the services you need.