4.6. How to Request a Carer’s Assessment? (Preview)
If a carer haven’t been informed and offered a Carer’s Assessment he/she should contact Adult Social Care Services and request an assessment.
Local authorities can, if they wish, arrange for other organisations to carry out assessments, therefore carers may find their local Carer Centre undertaking assessments on behalf of the council. There will be eligibility criteria for support, set nationally, meaning that carers across the country, are treated the same. Find out more about the eligibility in the ‘Eligibility Criteria for Support’ section.
What happens next?
Once the assessment has been carried out social services should discuss with the carer what support or services the carer require. If the outcome of the assessment is that services will be provided to help the carer, carers have the right to ask for Direct Payments instead of having the service arranged by social services. Direct Payments mean that carers are able to choose who provides the service they require rather than taking what social services has to offer. This gives carers more freedom of choice and the ability to manage their own finances more effectively.
Type of services that available to carers or the person they care for could include:
- Personal or practical care at home
- Day care services or activities
- Adaptations and equipment in the home
- Respite care
- Direct payment to enable you to buy services
- Patient transport service
- Companion card
- Benefits advice
- Substitute care to enable you as a carer to have a break from your caring role
- Short breaks, social activities
- Adult learning, trainings
- Help with particular tasks or equipment helping your caring role
- Advice and support by your local Carer Centre
- Emotional support
Help from Local Carer Centres
Completing a Carer’s Assessment may seem a difficult task but most of the local carer centres are happy to guide carers through the process and can offer a personal support service to make sure the assessment is an accurate reflection of the caring needs. Carers can ask one of the carer centres’ Support Workers to be present when they go through your Carer’s Assessment with social services, which can be done at the carer’s or care for’s home or at a time and place of their convenience.
