Help with getting and completing a Carer’s Assessment. Carer’s Assessments look at how caring affects your life, and whether support is needed to manage your caring role and well-being.
How to get a Carer’s Assessment
Parent Carers
The Children and Families Act 2014, says Parent Carers have a right to a parent carer’s needs assessment.
Parent carer needs assessments are carried out by the Local Authority. In Bristol and South Gloucestershire, they are conducted alongside your child’s social care needs assessment.
Young Carers
In Bristol, Young Carers can have an assessment of their needs through the Young Carers Service (part of our services).
In South Gloucestershire, Young carers should phone children and family services at South Gloucestershire Council to ask about their carer’s assessment: 01454 868 008.
Bristol
Bristol City Council has adopted an approach whereby some carer’s assessments are carried out by a team set up within the council called the Integrated Carers Team. If the person you care for has an assessment of their needs which resulted in a support package, you should have been offered a carer’s assessment at about the same time. If that didn’t happen, or it happened more than a year ago, contact the Integrated Carers Team at the council who will arrange for your carer’s assessment.
The council also commissions Carers Support Centre to complete carer’s assessments with carers who have no current involvement with council social care services.
If the person you care for is not getting any support services through the council, you can request help completing your carer’s assessment from Carers Support Centre.
Alternatively, you can download a Carers Simple Assessment form and complete it yourself ., You will need to provide the contact details of a health or social care professional who can verify your caring situation.
When and where does it take place?
If you ask Carers Support Centre to do your carer’s assessment with you, one of our support workers will offer an appointment within 4-6 weeks. Sometimes it can be quicker.
The appointment with a support worker can take an hour or longer. It usually takes place in your home but can be at another location convenient to you. Carers Support Centre staff run carer’s surgeries at many GP practices so it is often possible to have a carer’s assessment at your surgery. The person you care for may also be present in cases where you cannot leave them for this length of time – but we encourage you to meet us alone if possible so you can speak freely.
You will be able to discuss:
- how you feel about your caring role and whether or not you feel able to continue
- how you cope with the care you provide and how it might change in the future
- your health and how caring affects it
- work, training and leisure activities you do or would like to do
- any other worries or concerns you have
The worker’s role is to help you identify what help you need to maintain your wellbeing and whether the council can be asked to help in any way. The support worker will fill in the assessment form, there and then, based on your conversation with them.
What happens next?
In cases where the cost of enabling support to the carer is less than £300, Carers Support Centre can approve a carer’s payment on behalf of the council. The completed form and details of the decision are sent to the council for their records and they will arrange payment to the carer.
If, upon receiving the form, the council recognises that you need more support, they will contact you to discuss this further. This could result in a more comprehensive package of support.
Anything provided directly to you, the carer, is currently given free of charge. However, if, as a means of supporting you, a service is provided for the person you look after, this may be charged for. All of this would be made clear before any arrangements are made.
Is there an opportunity to have another assessment in the future?
You can have a review of your carer’s assessment each year that you are caring or if things change a lot you can request a review at that point. It is important to continue having an annual review of your carer’s assessment while you are caring so you can be updated on the help available and supported to look after your own well-being.
South Gloucestershire
South Gloucestershire Council has commissioned Carers Support Centre to help adult carers who are looking after an adult to complete the carer’s assessment questionnaire. You can request a carer’s assessment by contacting CarersLine at Carers Support Centre. Alternatively, if you come into contact with a health or social care professional, they may ask if you consent to them referring you to Carers Support Centre. Someone from CarersLine will then give you a call to check your agreement and answer any questions you might have.
When and where will it take place?
An assessment worker will contact you to offer an appointment about 10-12 weeks after you were originally referred. Carers Support Centre is working hard to reduce the waiting time.
The appointment with a carer’s assessment worker can take an hour and a half or longer. It usually takes place in your home but can be at another location convenient to you. Carers Support Centre runs carer’s surgeries at many GP practices so it is sometimes possible to arrange a carer’s assessment at your surgery. The person you care for may also be present but we encourage you to meet us alone if possible so you can speak freely.
You will be able to discuss:
- how you feel about your caring role and whether or not you feel able to continue
- how you cope with the care you provide and how it might change in the future
- your health and how caring affects it
- work, training and leisure activities you do or would like to do
- any other worries or concerns you have
The worker’s role is to help you identify what help you need to maintain your wellbeing and whether the council can be asked to help in any way. The assessment worker will fill in the assessment questionnaire there and then based on what you tell them. They also write a summary of the caring situation and outline what information they have provided to you.
What happens next?
The assessment worker sends the completed questionnaire to South Gloucestershire Council where a social worker decides on what support, if any, the council can provide. They will write to you with the decision. This is often to offer a small one-off payment of £200 to encourage and enable you to take a short break or do something to look after your wellbeing.
If, upon receiving the form, the council recognises that you need more support, they will contact you to discuss this further. This could result in a more comprehensive package of support.
Anything provided directly to you, the carer, is currently given free of charge. However, if, as a means of supporting you, a service is provided for the person you look after, this may be charged for. All of this would be made clear before any arrangements are made.
Is there an opportunity to have another assessment in the future?
South Gloucestershire Council will write to you after about 12 months to invite you to complete a review of your carer’s assessment. Or if your caring situation changes a lot you can request another review at that point.
When you complete and return the carer’s assessment review questionnaire, an assessment worker will ring you to get an update on your caring situation and answer any questions. The wait time for the phone call is currently about 6-8 weeks. The completed questionnaire and a summary will then be sent to the council for their decision on what they will offer in terms of ongoing support.
Currently, for many carers, South Gloucestershire Council awards another one-off payment.
It is important to continue having an annual review of your carer’s assessment all the time you are caring so you can be updated on help available and supported to look after your well-being.
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Page last updated 09.08.23
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