Carer’s assessment
If you look after someone and need help with caring for them, you may be able to get support from your local council or trust. To get this support, you will need to have a carer’s assessment if you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland. If you live in Scotland, you will need to ask for an Adult Carer Support Plan.
What is a carer’s assessment?
You could get support from your local council or trust if you’re looking after someone who is ill, has a disability, is frail or is an older person needing support.
To get this support for you from your local council or trust, you usually need to have a carer’s assessment.
A carer’s assessment looks at what kind of things you do as a carer and what support you could get to help with your caring role.
It's free and you can ask for a carer's assessment at any time.
In Scotland, the process is slightly different. The responsible local authority must offer an Adult Carer Support Plan to anyone they identify as a carer.
How could a carer’s assessment help me?
Having a carer’s assessment could mean you get some practical support with caring. This could include things like:
- Breaks from caring – sometimes called respite breaks. This can give you time to work, have some time to yourself, or spend time with family.
- Information and support, such as details of a local carers’ support group, and advice about benefits for carers.
- Help with taxi fares if you do not drive.
- Equipment or alterations to your home.
- Training to help you with your caring role, for example, in moving and handling the person you care for.
You don’t think that as a carer that you need any care, but it just felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders when the nurse simply acknowledged what I was going through. It was so hard to hold it all together. I just got to have a little bit of a break.
Can I have a carer’s assessment?
If you’re regularly looking after a partner, family member or friend and you do not get paid for it, you can have a carer’s assessment. It does not matter what type of care you provide or how much time you spend caring.
Although you may not think of yourself as a carer, anyone who regularly helps someone with things like washing or dressing, taking them to appointments, or keeping them company counts as a carer.
You do not have to be receiving Carer’s Allowance to get a carer’s assessment, and you do not have to be living with the person you’re caring for.
You can have an assessment whether or not the person you care for has had a care needs assessment themselves. While a carer's assessment is separate from a needs assessment, you can ask to have them done at the same time. If the person has had a needs assessment but is not eligible for support, you can still have a carer’s assessment.
You cannot have an assessment if you provide care professionally (you get paid for it), or if you provide care in an official volunteering role, like for a charity or organisation.
If you’re sharing the caring responsibilities with another person, you can each have your own assessment.
How do I get a carer’s assessment?
A health or social care professional may suggest that you have a carer’s assessment. You can also ask for one yourself at any time by contacting the adult social services department at your local council or trust. If the person you care for has a different council from you, then you should contact their council (except in Wales where you should still contact your local council).
- In England and Wales, you can find your local council on GOV.UK .
- In Northern Ireland, Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland has information about local health and social care trusts.
- In Scotland, you’ll need to ask your local council for an Adult Carer Support Plan or Young Carers Statement.
What happens at the assessment?
The assessment is carried out by someone from the council, or an organisation that works with the council, like a carers centre. In Northern Ireland, it’s carried out by someone from the local health and social care trust.
You’ll be assessed by a professional trained to do the assessment such as a care manager, an assessor, a healthcare professional or a social worker. They will talk to you about your needs and your wellbeing.
Your assessment is usually in person, but some councils may do it over the phone or online.
The assessment is your chance to explain how caring affects you, if you’re willing to continue with your caring role, and what help you need to do it. You may find it helpful to keep a diary of what care you provide on a daily basis, what you find difficult, and what you feel you need help with.
If you think it might help, you could also have someone with you during the assessment. Try to be honest about your caring role – if you do not give all the details, you might miss out on the support you need.
The assessment will look at:
- how long you’ve been caring for
- how many hours a week you provide care
- whether you want to do your caring role
- whether you’re able to continue doing your caring role
- how caring is affecting you and your family both physically and emotionally, and the impact this is having on your wellbeing
- what might help you to do the things that are important to you, such as your work, education, relationships and social activities.
Read about how to prepare for a carer's assessment at NHS Carers Assessments.
What happens if I qualify for help?
After the assessment, your local council or trust will decide if you’re eligible for services.
If you’re eligible, your local council or trust will write a care and support plan. You should get a copy within a few weeks. It will provide information about the services and support available – some of it may be provided directly and some may be provided directly to the person you care for.
Your care and support plan will be reviewed regularly to see what's working and not working, and if it's still the best support for you. This usually happens within the first few months of support starting and then once every year.
If you're not eligible for support, the council or trust should provide you with information and advice on local services which may be able to help you.
The support you receive will also be written in the care plan of the person you are looking after. Some of the help you need might actually be covered by their care plan, like equipment which would help you in your caring role.
If my circumstances change
If your carer's assessment finds that you're entitled to benefits, and later on there is a change in your circumstances, you will need to report this. You also need to let them know if, by mistake, you gave incorrect information during your carer's assessment. You do this via GOV.UK or nidirect if you live in Northern Ireland.
Do I have to pay for social care?
If you are found to be eligible for social care, you could receive services to help you, for example breaks from caring or information on local carers support groups.
Depending on where you live and your financial situation, you may have to pay for some or all of these services yourself.
England and Wales
If you live in England or Wales, your council might pay for some or all of the costs of your social care. This will depend on your financial situation.
You will normally have a financial assessment after your carer’s assessment to find out how much the council will pay towards services.
After the assessment, the council will write to you, explaining how much the services will cost and how much of that you’ll have to pay yourself.
Northern Ireland
In Northern Ireland, the health and social care trust are able to charge you for the services you are assessed as needing, but this is rare.
To organise your services, the trust can arrange them for you, or give you a direct payment. This is paid to you directly, and you can use it to buy the services or help you need.
Direct payments
If you’re eligible for support, you may be able to get direct payments to help you pay for services or products that would help you in your caring role. Direct payments are sums of money paid to you by your local council or trust.
You can use direct payments to buy services to help you in your caring role. You cannot use them to pay for services for the person you’re caring for. For example, you can use them to help with transports costs you have, like taxi fares or driving lessons.
Contact your local council (or trust in Northern Ireland) to find out more about direct payments.
Direct payments are available in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.
What do I do if I’m not happy with the outcome of my carer’s assessment?
If you’re not happy with the assessment, tell the council (or health and social care trust in Northern Ireland).
If things can’t be resolved informally, ask for details of the council’s complaints procedure and make a formal complaint. If you are unhappy with the way your complaint is handled by the council, you can complain to an Ombudsman:
- In England, the Local Government Ombudsman
- In Wales, the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
- In Scotland, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
- In Northern Ireland, the Public Services Ombudsman
Adult Carer Support Plan in Scotland
If you are a carer in Scotland you should be offered an Adult Carer Support Plan (or Young Carer's Statement if you're under 18) by the local council of the person you care for. If you have not been offered one, you should contact the council and ask for this.
What is an Adult Carer Support Plan?
An Adult Carer Support Plan outlines what help you need to do your caring role.
Your plan will outline what needs you have in your caring role, and whether you are eligible for support from the council. Every council has its own criteria to decide whether you are eligible for support.
Support might include things like help with applying for benefits, emotional support, breaks from caring and carer training courses.
How do I get an Adult Carer Support Plan?
To create a plan, you’ll have a conversation with someone from the local council, to find out what help you need with your caring role. In some areas, you might have this conversation with someone from another organisation, like a local carer’s centre.
To ask for a plan, contact the council where the person you care for lives. You can find a list of councils on the mygov.scot website. If you say you’re a carer, the council has a duty to draw up a plan with you
If you are found to be eligible for support, you will be offered self-directed support. This allows you to choose how your services are arranged.
Even if you are not eligible for support, the council will still give you a plan with information about local carers groups and places you could get support.
Carers Scotland has more information about Adult Carer Support Plans.
External websites
- Care Information Scotland - find your social work department in Scotland
- Carers Northern Ireland
- Carers Scotland
- Carers Wales
- Carers UK
- GOV.UK - find your local council in England and Wales
- Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland – find your local health and social care trust in Northern Ireland
Did you find this page useful?
Help us be there for anyone with an illness they're likely to die from by telling us what you think.
If you are completing this survey using a desktop computer, hold down the Ctrl button to select multiple options.
About this information
This information is not intended to replace any advice from health or social care professionals. We suggest that you consult with a qualified professional about your individual circumstances. Read more about how our information is created and how it's used.
