Carer's Assessments for adult carers - Print version

What is a Carer's Assessment?

A Carer's Assessment is a good way to discuss with a professional your needs as a carer, the impact caring may have on you and if there are any aspects of your caring role you are finding hard, need support with or what to come to an end.  We encourage anyone with caring responsibilities to have an assessment.  

Listed below are some of the things we will look at during your assessment so before you contact us or complete an online self assessment [https://cid.coventry.gov.uk/kb5/coventry/directory/adult_social_care.page], you might like to think about them. It might help to write things down.

• Who (if anyone) you would like to be involved in your assessment
• What you are finding difficult and how this is affecting you in your daily life
• Your caring role, how you manage and whether it is preventing you from doing things that you want or need to do
• Your health, how it affects you, and whether your caring role is affecting your health
• Looking after yourself and staying safe (eating well, getting enough sleep, getting a break, caring safely, feeling safe)
• Planning for difficulties and emergencies
• Things you enjoy doing
• Things that are important to you
• Support already available to you – what’s working well (e.g. help from family and friends, GP, equipment and aids, paid carers)
• Anything that has worked well in the past
• What would you like to achieve / do more of?

Who can have a carer's assessment?

Any adult who looks after another adult and may need help to enable them to continue to care can have a carers' assessment under the Care Act 2014.

Any adult who may have needs for care and support can have also have their own assessment [/info/78/adult_social_care_support/980/assessments_eligibility_and_support_planning]. The assessment must involve any carers who are providing support and the carer's needs will be considered at the same time. This is called a 'combined carer's assessment'. A carer can also have a separate carer's assessment.

Parent carers who look after a disabled child, and young carers can have an assessment under the Children and Families Act. We are in the process of updating our information for parent carers but in the meantime please contact the All Age Disability Service [http://www.coventry.gov.uk/info/78/care_and_support/2279/all_age_disability/2].

What if I don't want an assessment?

You can refuse to have an assessment but we may still need to talk to you if we are concerned about your safety and wellbeing.

We can still give you information and advice about arranging your own support and accessing activities and groups in your community. If you are offered an assessment but refuse this time, you could still change your mind at a later date.

What happens during a Carer's Assessment?

We have asked Carers Trust Heart of England to complete some of our Carer's Assessments on our behalf:

• If you or the person you care for already have services from us or if we are already involved then we will complete your assessment.
• If you or the person you care for do not already have services or involvement from us, Carers Trust Heart of England will complete your assessment.

If the person you care for is having an assessment from Adult Social Care or Mental Health Services, your needs as a carer should always be considered as part of this assessment. This is called a ‘combined assessment’. You can still have your needs assessed separately as well if this will be of benefit for you to look in more detail at your caring role and how it affects you.

The assessment will begin when you first contact us or Carers Trust Heart of England, or if someone contacts us on your behalf.

First of all we will ask you for your permission to record the information about you on our social care recording system. We may need to share or collect some of this information with other agencies and organisations if we help to arrange support for you or as part of the assessment process. This could include information from your GP. We will keep this information safe and confidential.

You can tell us if there is someone or somewhere you do not want us to share information with.

We may gather this information in a number of ways, such as:

• From your online self-assessment [https://cid.coventry.gov.uk/kb5/coventry/directory/adult_social_care.page] form
• On the telephone
• Arranging for you to come and see us
• Visiting you at home or where you are staying
• By email

If you choose to start your assessment yourself you can complete an online self assessment [https://cid.coventry.gov.uk/kb5/coventry/directory/adult_social_care.page] form or ask for a form to be sent out to you when you contact us. It is better if you can fill in the form on a computer and send it to us before we talk to you again or meet with you. However, don’t worry if you can’t, you can post the form back to us.

The time it takes to complete your assessment will depend on your situation. We may be able to give you information and advice about getting the support you need after the first conversation and in some circumstances your assessment would then be finished. We will always provide you with a copy of your assessment and any advice we suggest. If your situation is more complicated we may start your assessment over the telephone and then arrange for someone to call you back or meet with you to continue with the discussion.

If you start your assessment with Carers Trust Heart of England, they will record that assessment on our social care recording system.

What happens next?

In this stage of assessment we will be looking at ways to support you to continue caring and reduce the need for ongoing support. If your assessment is being carried out by Carers Trust Heart of England they will follow the same process with you.

We will look at different types of support that can help you continue caring safely and look after yourself. For example, we may suggest equipment [/info/80/help_to_live_at_home/991/equipment_needs] to help the person you care for be more independent or Telecare [/telecare] to give you peace of mind when you’re not around. We might look at training and learning, practical advice, support groups and emergency planning that can help you in your caring role.

Often just talking about your situation and having the chance to plan and think through how you can manage different aspects of your life and your caring role can be of great help. Being prepared for things that might happen can help you feel more in control and enable you to get help when you need it.

If we identify some things to help you, we will agree a plan with you about how you will be supported and what outcomes you want to achieve first of all. We will agree how and when we will keep in touch over the next few weeks to review how you are getting on and we will look at whether your outcomes have been met.

If they have, we will finish your assessment and make sure that you have all the information, advice and equipment you need to continue caring and feel more supported in your caring role. You will receive a copy of your assessment and a summary of the support and information that has been provided.

If your outcomes have not been met, we will look at whether you need further support and move on to the next stage. This includes making decisions about your ongoing needs and whether you are eligible for support from the Council.

If your Carer’s Assessment has been started by Carers Trust Heart of England they will ask us to carry on with the assessment to look at longer term needs.

If it appears that the person you care for may need support in order for you to take a break we will need to arrange to assess their needs as well, but your entitlement to support does not depend on the person you care for also receiving help from us.

See the information about having a needs assessment [/needsassessment] for more details.

Carers' eligibility

There are three questions we will consider for carers:

1. Do you have needs because you are providing necessary care to an adult?
2. Does your caring role have an effect on you which means that at least one of the statements below apply?
3. And, because of this, is there, or is there likely to be, a significant impact or effect on your wellbeing?

If the answer to all three questions is yes, then you will have eligible needs for care and support.

When considering question 1 we may decide that the care you provide is not necessary.

For example, we may think that the person you care for can reasonably be expected do the things that you are doing for them.

Alternatively, we may decide that your needs or problems are the result of something other than your caring role.

These are the statements we will look at in question 2:

• your physical or mental health is at risk of being affected, or
• you are unable to do at least one of the following things without support:
  • look after any children you have responsibilities for
  • provide care to any other person
  • maintain a habitable home environment
  • eat properly and maintain proper nutrition
  • maintain and develop your relationships with family and friends
  • engage in work, training, education and volunteering
  • make use of necessary resources and facilities in the community, including recreational facilities
  • make time for social activities and hobbies

You are assessed as being “unable” to do these things if:

• you need help to do them
• you can do them without help, but it causes you significant pain, distress or anxiety
• you can do them without help but it could or does put yours or another person’s health and safety at risk

When looking at the impact on your wellbeing we will think about things like personal dignity, control over your day to day life, relationships with other people, having suitable accommodation, protection from abuse and neglect and taking part in education, work or social activities.

We might think the impact on your wellbeing is “significant” if it will have an important or a major effect on your daily life and independence.

If your needs change or vary from time to time because of your health or situation, we will consider this when making decisions about whether you are eligible for support.

How will I know about the decision?

After the assessment we will write to and explain our decision and the reasons behind it.

If you have eligible needs we will work with you to plan your support as explained in the next section.

If you do not have needs that are eligible we will give you information and advice about what support is available to help you. For example, this could be from local charities or voluntary organisations.

How will the Council help me plan my support as a carer?

We will work out how much support you might need.

Your assessment will help us work out how much support you may require, based on your individual needs. We will estimate what it might cost the Council to support you; this is called an ‘indicative amount’ and is a starting point for calculating what your personal budget [/personalbudgets] will be.

We will help you plan your support with people that are important to you including the person you care for if this is helpful.

We will look at how you would like to meet your needs and help you do the things that are important to you. You won’t always need to have a service paid for by the Council to meet your needs.

We will look at a range of options to meet your needs including new ways to help you such as:

• finding groups in the community who can help you or asking your friends and family
• giving you information or telling you about where you can get help
• looking at lots of different types of equipment or tools that help you in your caring role
• training and learning opportunities that help you continue to care safely and help you develop new skills
• planning for emergencies and contingencies to avoid crisis situations arising and give you peace of mind

Some of your needs may be met by providing some support to the person you care for so we will consider what help might have already been put in place or whether the person you care for should have an assessment of their needs [/needsassessment] to put some help in place. This might include support to help you have a break.

If you still have needs that haven’t been met in these ways then we can discuss whether you need a personal budget and how you might use that to support you further in your caring role.

Find out more about the types of support that might be available [/info/78/adult_social_care_support/2448/types_of_support] for the person you care for.

Carers' Personal Budgets and arranging your support

What is a Personal Budget?

When we have agreed with you the best ways to help you, we will work out how much this will cost as soon as possible. We will then agree with you the amount the Council will contribute to your support. This is called a ‘Personal Budget’.

Your support plan will also include all advice, information, signposting, money and services that the Council will be providing to you.

Will this information be written down?

All of this information will be written down in a Carers Support Plan and you will have a copy of this.

This information may need to be shared with people or agencies involved in your support with your permission, but we will talk to you about this at the time.

How will my support be arranged?

We will ask you if you would like our help to arrange your support or if you would like to do this yourself. There are a number of choices:

1. You could have the ‘Personal Budget’ paid to you so that you can arrange your own support. This means you can choose who helps you at the times you prefer and in a way that suits you. When your ‘Personal Budget’ is paid to you this is called a ‘Direct Payment’.
   If you need support to manage a Direct Payment [/directpayments] you can have someone to do this for you or with you.
   We can still provide you with information about care agencies or organisations or people that might be able to help you if you needed us to.
2. We could arrange your support for you. Even when the Council sets up and pays your support for you using your ‘Personal Budget’, you will still be given a choice about the best ways to support you with your needs.
3. You could have the ‘Personal Budget’ paid to a third party so that they can arrange your support on your behalf. This means you can choose who helps you at the times you prefer and in a way that suits you.; When your ‘Personal Budget’ is paid to a third party this is called an ‘Individual Service Fund’.
4. You can have some of the money paid to you as a Direct Payment for you to organise some of your support and ask the Council to set up the rest of your support.

Your Support Plan will include details about what support you will get, who it will come from, when it will happen and how much it costs.

Will I have to pay towards my support?

There is currently no charge for support provided directly to carers. You could decide to pay an additional payment towards the cost of your support of your choice where this exceeds what the Council will pay.

Reviewing carers' support plans

When will my Support Plan be reviewed?

Once your support is in place, we will check back with you after 6 to 8 weeks to make sure that everything is working effectively for you. Your Support Plan will then be reviewed on a yearly basis to make sure that the plan is still right for you.

If you think your needs have changed, you can call us at any time to request a review.

What if I disagree with the assessment?

If you disagree with any part of the process, you should discuss this first with your assessor. You can also make a complaint via our Adult Social Care complaints process [/info/194/health_and_social_care_-_having_your_say_and_getting_involved/562/adult_social_care_-_comments_compliments_and_complaints].