If you want the council to arrange or pay towards your care you have to meet the national eligibility criteria outline in the Care Act 2014. You will also need to have a ‘needs assessment’ to help find out about your support needs.
If you are eligible for social care support, a financial assessment will be carried out to determine how much you will need to pay towards your care, if anything. This has to be determined before you can be allocated a budget known as a 'Personal Budget'. For more information on Personal Budgets visit our page
What is a ‘needs assessment’
Needs assessments are for adults (18 years of age or over) who may need support because of a disability, ill health or old age.
An assessment starts as a discussion with you to find out more about the kind of things you need support with.
We will ask questions to see whether you're able to:
- get in and out of bed
- get washed and dressed
- go to the toilet unaided
- make and eat meals
- move around your home safely
- use local services, like buses, and go to the shops
- get enough contact with other people
- keep your home clean and safe
We'll also check whether you have any support in place already, and then work out if you qualify for some help from us to arrange your care.
What is care planning?
If a needs assessment identifies that you are eligible to receive Adult Social Care support, your worker will create a care plan with you which shows how these needs are to be met. This support may be provided in a combination of ways including:
- Care support within the home through a care agency
- Personal assistant via a Direct Payment
- Day care (buildings
- Care within a residential / nursing home setting
- Reablement services (these are temporary services to regain independence after a crisis)
- Supported living (individual homes with on-site carer support)