What is a Care Needs Assessment?
A Care Needs Assessment is an assessment of your care and support needs which is carried out by the adult social care department in your local council. You may also know it as a Care Act Assessment as the assessment is carried out under the law of the Care Act (2014). The purpose of a Care Needs Assessment is to understand your presenting care and support needs and what outcomes you wish to achieve.
Things the assessment will focus on:
- Your overall health and wellbeing and your dignity.
- Being safe and protected.
- Things you do daily – going to work, education or recreational activities.
- Your financial wellbeing.
- Your support and relationships – your family, friends and care.
- Your living arrangements – does your accommodation suit your needs?
- What you want to achieve and your aspirations.
These are all things the assessment will consider and once the assessment is complete, adult social care will evaluate if you are eligible for support.
Who is entitled to a Care Needs Assessment?
Anyone who needs help to cope with daily tasks can have a Care Needs Assessment to ask for help from the council. This may be due to a health condition such as:
- A learning disability
- Mental health conditions
- Physical disabilities
- Acquired brain injuries
- Drug and alcohol dependence
As a result of one or more of these health conditions, you may struggle to cope independently.
How do I get a Care Needs Assessment?
You can contact the adult social services department of your local council to ask for a Care Needs Assessment. Anyone over the age of 18 can ask for a Care Needs Assessment. Once in contact with Social Care, the professional carrying out your assessment will be able to tell you more about it and what it involves.
The assessment will either be face-to-face, over the phone or online.
You can ask for the assessment on behalf of someone else if you think someone else you support needs social care. If you are asking for an assessment on behalf of someone else, they will need to agree to being assessed, unless they lack capacity to communicate this. A health professional can also ask for an
assessment for you.
The Care Needs Assessment is free of charge.
Make sure you give the professional as much detail as possible about the daily living tasks that you struggle with.
All the contact details for getting a Care Needs Assessment in your area are below.
After your Care Needs Assessment
Once a professional from adult social care has completed your Care Needs Assessment, they will be in touch with you to let you know if you are eligible for support and what they recommend. Adult social care may recommend things like:
- Getting equipment to support your mobility and wellbeing
- Making adaptations to your home environment
- Services to support your health at home
- Accessing help from a paid carer
- Accessing day centres and clubs
If you are eligible for support from the council, social care will then carry out a financial assessment to evaluate if they can pay towards your care. If you are not eligible for support, the council should give you free advice regarding services and support you can access in your community.
Contact details for a Care Needs Assessment
Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
Telephone: 01254 587 547
Blackpool Council
Telephone: 01253 477 800
Blackpool council adult social services referral form.
Lancashire County Council
Telephone: 0300 123 6720
Lancashire County Council assessing your needs webpage.
North Yorkshire Council
Telephone: 0300 131 2131
North Yorkshire Council get help and support with adult social care webpage.
Westmorland and Furness Council
Telephone: 0300 373 3301
Email: customerservicesASC@westmorlandandfurness.gov.uk
Westmorland and Furness Council adult social care website.
What is a Carer's Assessment?
When we’re caring for other people, we need to ensure that we are also healthy and supported. A Carer's Assessment will assess your needs as a carer and recommend means to support your health and wellbeing. Like the Care Needs Assessment, a Carer's Assessment will be carried out by social care at your local council, or another organisation that works with your local council to support carers in the area.
Who is entitled to a Carer's Assessment?
A Carer's Assessment is free to anyone over the age of 18 who regularly provides unpaid care for someone who is unwell or disabled. This includes family members. As a carer, you might support someone with their daily living tasks such as:
- Washing, dressing and showering
- Managing their finances
- Going shopping
- Getting out into the community
- Their emotional wellbeing
Anybody can ask for a Carer's Assessment.
If you care for a disabled child under 18, you can request a parent carer needs assessment. These are also known as Children Act assessments. If your child is also being assessed for an education, health and care (EHC) plan then both should be done at the same time. The assessment will normally be carried out
by a social worker at a visit to the home of your child.
If this has not happened, or you feel it has been some time since you had a Carer's Assessment, you can request this by calling:
- Lancashire County Council: 0300 123 6720
- Blackburn With Darwen Borough Council: 01254 585 585 (Press 3)
- Westmorland and Furness Council: 08443 843 230
How do I get a Carer's Assessment?
A Carer's Assessment is carried out by adult social care at your local council. If you or the person you care for already has a social worker, you can ask them for Carer's Assessment. The contact details for each area across Lancashire and South Cumbria are below. All requests for a Carer's Assessment can be made on a self-referral basis via telephone, email or through a booking form.
What does a Carer's Assessment involve?
A Carer's Assessment and Care Needs Assessment can be completed at the same time. The professional carrying out your assessment will ask how caring for someone affects your life, including your social, mental and physical wellbeing. The Carer's Assessment will either be done face to face or over the phone and the assessment will be at least an hour long.
Before the assessment, ensure you have details about yourself to hand, including your NHS number, and the details of the person you care for including their address, date of birth and NHS Number.
What are the benefits of a Carer's Assessment?
Having a Carer’s Assessment allows adult social care to assess what support they can provide you to maintain your health and wellbeing as a carer.
Depending on your needs, adult social care can recommend things such as:
- Having a break from caring
- Accessing exercise classes
- Attending support groups with other carers
- Training in the relevant areas depending on what your caring roles are
- Getting support with public transport if you do not drive.
After your Carer's Assessment
Once a professional has carried out a Carer's Assessment with you, they will be in touch to inform you if you qualify for support from the council. If you qualify for support from the council, the professional will work with you to write a care and support plan. You may also need a financial assessment from the council to understand if they can help you with the costs.
If you do not qualify for support from the council, then the council should give you advice about what support you can get in the community.
The contact details below are for the organisations that carry out carers assessments, whether that be adult social care or an external agency.
Young carers
Anyone under the age of 18 who is regularly caring for someone is also entitled to a Carer's Assessment. The young carers assessment is different to an adult carer’s assessment. You can contact your local council for details about getting a young carer's assessment. A young carer's assessment can recommend things such as attending after-school clubs, meeting other young carers and having emotional support from someone.
The contact details for getting a young carer's assessment are also below.
Contact information for Carer's Assessments
If there are no contact details listed for a young carers assessment in your area, you can contact the organisation that’s already listed.
Barnardo’s Lancashire Young Carers
Telephone: 01772 641 002
Email address: lancashireyoungcarers@barnardos.org.uk
Blackburn with Darwen Carers Service
Telephone: 01254 688 440
Email address: office@bwdcarers.org.uk
Blackburn with Darwen Young Carers Service
Telephone: 01254 692 709
Email address: youngcarers@canw.org.uk
Blackpool Council
Telephone: 01253 477 800
You can also complete the online referral form on Blackpool Council's website.
Blackpool Carer's Centre
Young Carers Family Support Workers – receive support as a young carer.
Telephone: 01253 393 748
Email address: admin@blackpoolcarers.org
Carers Link Lancashire (East Lancashire – Hyndburn, Burnley, Rossendale, Pendle, or Ribble Valley)
Telephone: 0345 688 7113 select option 1
Email address: info@carerslinklancashire.co.uk
Carer Support Furness (Barrow, Dalton, Ulverston, Askam)
Telephone: 01229 822 822
Email address: admin@carersupportfurness.co.uk
Carer Support South Lakes (Kendal)
Telephone: 01539 815 970
Email address: admin@carersupportsouthlakes.org.uk
n-compass – The Lancashire Carer's Service (North, West and Central Lancashire)
Telephone: 0345 688 7113 select option 2
Email address: enquiries@lancscarers.co.uk
North Yorkshire Council
Telephone: 0300 131 2131