Carers Assessments

A Carers Assessment is your opportunity to tell social services about the things that could make caring easier for you.

Carers Assessments were first mentioned in the Carers (Recognition and Services) Act 1995. Carers can ask for an assessment of their own needs when the person they are caring for is having an assessment, or re-assessment, of their needs. Two late Acts have superseded this Act, but the 1995 Act is the only one that does not restrict Carers Assessments according to age, meaning that young carers (up to the 18 years old) can also have an assessment under this piece of legislation. See the young carers section below.

The way that you can get a Carers Assessment will depend on your circumstances.

Think about what you want to talk about and write this down
Ask for an assessor to work through the form with you rather than fill it out on your own
Do you need a friend, relative or someone else with you during the assessment to help you put your views and concerns forward?
Can you understand any letters or forms about the person you are helping to care for, or are they too complicated? Too much jargon?
Does the person you care for have needs you wish to discuss e.g. transport needs?
Ask the assessor for names and telephone numbers which may be helpful

Emergency Duty Team at Social Care and Health
Social Worker
NHS Direct
Disability Team

If there is someone in the house who is under 18-years of age and they are providing regular and substantial care for someone with a disability or illness – they are a Young Carer.

Remember

The Carers Assessment is your right. It is not a test to see how good you are, but used to identify any support that can be put in place to enable you to continue to care if you want to.

Benefits of a Carers Assessment

Recognition of your role as a carer
An opportunity to flag up concerns that you have with your caring role or the care provided to the cared for from other sources such as Social Care and Health
The opportunity to discuss what you would want to happen if you were unable to provide care e.g. because of illness
Gets you into the system so the professional know you are there
Gives service planners a better idea about how many carers there actually are when planning services

Carers and Disabled Children’s Act 2000

This act of Parliament was promised in the Carers Strategy (1999) and made some important changes to assessment and services for carers. This Act gives carers the right to ask for an assessment of their own needs to help them to continue to care, irrespective of whether the person they are caring for has had or is having their own needs assessment. The assessment is available to any carer who provides or is intending to provide regular and substantial care (this is not clearly defined). The Carers and Disabled Act 2000 also allows, for the first time, Social Service Departments to provide services directly to carers, although whether or not you receive a service is up to the Social Services. Bear in mind also that if they provide you with a carers service local authority social service departments can charge you for that service, although many do not actually charge for services provided directly to carers.

To arrange for a carers assessment you should contact your local authority Social Services Department and we can help you with this.

All carers and the tasks they face are different and you may have ideas about the kind of services that would help you.

After assessment your local social services may be able to provide services, or suggest other agencies that give you a break, additional emotional support from other carers or people who understand, help with household tasks and your caring responsibilities, benefits advice and ideas for activities for the person you care for.

Carers Equal Opportunities Act 2004

This Act is the newest and was implemented in April 2005. It changes the previous act in a few important ways.

Firstly it places a duty on social services departments to inform carers of their right to an assessment. Secondly, when the assessment is carried out the purpose of it is not only to help the carer to continue to care, but should also include a discussion on their/your wish to start paid work or to continue to work, their/your wish for further education and their/your wish to engage in leisure pursuits. Thirdly carers and their needs have previously only been a duty for social service departments, but under this Act social service departments can ask other public bodies including local health organisations to provide services to carers; a request, which these bodies have to consider and make a reply.

You should feel free to talk about any of these during your assessment, but to get you started, here are some of the more common areas for discussion:

if you are struggling to find any/enough time for yourself,
whether you’re able to get out and about,
the affect caring is having on your health,
how it’s affecting your relationships with others,
whether the person you’re caring for is getting enough help,
sources for additional help via local or national support organisations,
and any employment concerns you may have
different types of assessments

You can find an overview of the different assessments and what they cover here.