Assessing your needs

We prioritise assessments based on the:

Everyone must be assessed before they receive a service. Your carer is also entitled to an assessment.

What an assessment involves

A social worker, occupational therapist, or a community care assistant will contact you and arrange to meet you at home or at a place of your choice. If you wish, you can bring someone with you.
Remember that your carer is also entitled to a free assessment.
The level of assessment to be carried out, and the time required to complete, depends on the service being requested.
The assessment may take more than one visit.
When completed it will be written down so both parties can have a copy. You will be asked to sign the copy to say you agree with what has been written about you. You may disagree, in which case your views will also be recorded.
You may be asked to sign a consent form to share the information with other agencies, such as your GP or Health. This is because they could be involved in helping to meet your needs. Assessments will only be shared with other agencies if they need to be directly involved in your case.

The assessment will identify the support you need, if any, and the best way to provide this using Self Directed Support.

This will be based on the application of the eligibility criteria.
If you are going to be receiving social work funded support, we will make a plan for your support.
You may need to pay towards the cost of your support. The amount you will pay depends on your financial circumstances. Find out more about paying for your care.

This will tell you:

When your support plan is in place, we will agree with you how soon it will be reviewed.

If your needs are complex, and your situation can change quickly, we will review your support plan more often.
If your situation is more stable, and we are confident that the support plan will meet your needs for some time, we will review it less often.