A care needs assessment is the formal starting point for council-arranged care, and it is worth doing even if you expect to pay for everything yourself. It is free, it is not means tested, and it produces an independent view of what somebody actually needs.
Under the Care Act 2014, councils in England must assess anyone who appears to have needs for care and support. That threshold is low on purpose. You do not have to prove anything to get an assessment.
Requesting one
Contact adult social care at the relevant local council — the one where the person lives, not where you live. Most have an online form and a duty telephone line.
You can request an assessment for yourself, or for somebody else with their agreement. If they lack capacity to agree, you can still request it and the council must consider their best interests.
Say clearly if the situation is urgent — a hospital discharge, a carer who has become ill, a recent fall. Urgency should change how quickly it happens, and councils can put interim arrangements in place while an assessment is pending.
What the assessor asks about
The visit usually takes an hour to ninety minutes, at home, and looks at daily living rather than diagnosis:
- Washing, dressing and using the toilet
- Preparing meals, eating and drinking
- Moving around the home, and managing stairs
- Managing medication
- Keeping the home safe and reasonably clean
- Getting out, and maintaining relationships
- Whether the person can be left alone, and for how long
- What family or friends currently do
They are assessing needs, not the household's finances. Money comes later and separately.
Preparing so it reflects reality
This is where assessments most often go wrong, and it is entirely fixable.
People minimise. Somebody who has struggled for two years has normalised the struggle, and on the day, in front of a stranger, they will say they manage fine. Meanwhile the family member sitting there knows about the three falls nobody reported.
Keep a diary for a fortnight beforehand. Note what actually happens: how long dressing takes, how many times a night somebody is up, meals skipped, medication missed, what you did that they could not.
Describe a bad day, not an average one. Ask explicitly that the record reflects fluctuation. "She manages on a good day, but two days a week she cannot get out of bed unaided" is a different assessment from "she manages".
Be there if you can. Both of you should speak. If the person would rather you were not present for part of it, that is their right, but ask to contribute separately.
Say what you are absorbing. Unpaid care propping the situation up is directly relevant, and it should be recorded. Ask for a carer's assessment of your own at the same time — you are entitled to one and it is a separate document.
What happens next
The council decides whether the needs are eligible against national criteria: whether they arise from a physical or mental impairment, whether they prevent achieving specified outcomes, and whether there is a significant impact on wellbeing.
If needs are eligible, a financial assessment follows to decide who pays. Capital thresholds change, so check the current figures with the council or on GOV.UK rather than relying on a number you were told once. The value of a home somebody still lives in is not counted for care delivered at home.
You should end up with a care and support plan setting out what will be provided, and a personal budget — the amount allocated. That can be managed by the council, taken as a direct payment so you arrange care yourself, or a mix.
Direct payments are worth asking about. They let you choose the provider rather than accept whoever holds the contract.
If the answer is no
You should get the reasons in writing, plus information and advice about arranging care privately — councils owe that duty regardless of eligibility.
You can request a reassessment when circumstances change, and every council has a complaints procedure. Age UK and Citizens Advice both help people challenge assessment outcomes, free.
While you wait
Assessment waiting times vary a great deal. Meanwhile:
- Claim Attendance Allowance or PIP — not means tested, not dependent on the assessment, and widely unclaimed
- Ask the GP about a referral to occupational therapy for equipment and adaptations
- Contact the local carers' centre
- Consider starting privately if the situation is not safe to leave
Many families start home care privately and move onto council funding when the assessment catches up. That is a normal thing to do, and a decent provider will help you do it rather than tie you in.
Our own assessment is free, carries no obligation and is not a sales visit. If we think you should be pressing the council rather than paying us, we will say so.
