The care assessment process, assessing your care needs, creating a support plan and how much will you pay for care and support.
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Request a care assessment
About the care assessment
We offer a range of support for adults, including older people. This is detailed on our Services for Adults page. If you feel that you, or someone you know, needs more support, you can request a care assessment.
A care assessment is an opportunity for us to have a discussion with you to:
- look at what support would help you remain independent
- explore how to meet your care needs
There is no charge for a care assessment. Everyone is entitled to a care assessment if they feel they need support with care needs or to continue to live independently.
You can complete an online initial care assessment by using the link above and once it has been submitted, our Access Team will contact you to discuss it.
If you are unable to complete the online request for an initial care assessment, please contact us on aapcustomersupport@northlincs.gov.uk or 01724 297000.
The care assessment process – what you need to know
When you make contact with us, there is no need to worry. It is just a simple discussion between you and us to explore how support would help you to remain independent. We will ask you a few basic questions and arrange for your assessment to take place. You could also ask someone else to make initial contact with us on your behalf if you prefer.
An assessment is a discussion between you and us. Together we will talk through some of the following areas to get a better understanding of your care and support needs and the goals you want to achieve to maintain your wellbeing. The topics we discuss may include:
- General, physical and mental health
- Safety
- Hobbies and interests
- Housing
- The future
- Money
- Wellbeing
- Work
- Family, social network and support
- Mental capacity
- Life story
- Your home environment
If you are not eligible for social care support from North Lincolnshire Council, we will give you information and advice about what other help is available. If you are eligible, we will work together to create a support plan of your needs.
If you need someone to support you through an assessment you can bring along a carer, friend or family member. Alternatively an independent advocate can be made available if this is appropriate for you. An advocate can help you to get your views heard if you have difficulty doing this without support.
Read our eligibility for care and support pages for more information.
If your assessment identifies you as eligible for social care support, we will work with you to create a support plan. Together we will discuss the kinds of activities and other support that may already be available to you. We will identify any changes which could be made to help you live more independently.
Here are some examples of what might be included in a support plan:
- Special equipment in your home
- Activities, clubs and social groups
- Meals delivered directly to your door
We can offer short term support and long term support.
Short term support
Getting well again – Home First – Following a spell in hospital, Intermediate Care can help by supporting you to stay at home while recovering from injury or illness, leave hospital more quickly following treatment and in some cases prevent the need to be admitted to hospital.
Long term support
Following your assessment we will be able to tell you what assistance and support we can offer you to meet your identified social care need.
We can also tell you if we can offer you financial support and how much this will be. This is called a Personal Budget and it is an amount of money that you can use to plan your support and meet your needs.
- Home care – Information on what home care is and choosing a provider
- Choosing a Care Home – Advice on choosing a care home
- Physical Disability and Occupational Therapy – Support for those with a physical disability.
Social care (unlike health care) is not free. Depending on your financial circumstances, you may be expected to contribute towards the cost of your care. If you do have to contribute, it will only be an amount that you can afford to pay and will be based on your own financial details, for example your income and savings.
We do not charge for:
- Financial assessments
- Advice and support about your finances and benefits
- Services we provide for carers – although we may charge for services we provide to the person you are caring for (depending on their financial circumstances)
After your Care Assessment, we will offer to complete a financial assessment to work out how much of that cost the council can cover, and how much you’ll need to pay for yourself.
During the financial assessment process, you will be asked to confirm and provide evidence of your income, savings and capital.
It is always recommended that you access Independent Financial Advice.
The following pages will give you more information about how you can pay for your care:
- How much will I pay for my care? – Information about financial assessments.
- Paying for community based services – How you can pay for services in your community.
- Paying to live in a care home – Information for people moving into permanent residential care.
- Personal Budgets – What is a Personal Budget and how you can receive it.
- Self-funding – Information for people who fund their own care.
- Deferred Payment Agreements – Information about the council’s Deferred Payments Scheme – a way of paying to live in a care home without selling your home during your lifetime.
- Independent financial advice – Independent financial advisers can advise on how you can make your money work best for you to help cover any long term care costs.
The Government has a new long-term vision for delivering adult social care in England that puts people and families at its heart. It is a vision that promotes independence and enables people to live well as part of a community, as well as providing more support for the workforce.
From October 2023 the Government is changing the way people in England pay for their care to make the system fairer:
- No one will have to pay more than £86,000 for their personal care costs. Currently there is no limit on how much you might pay.
- Individuals with less than £100,000 in savings and assets may be eligible for help from their local council with their care costs. Currently only those with less than £23,250 are eligible for state support.
- More people will be able to ask their local council to arrange their care for them to give them a choice of better value care.
Your care costs will typically be made up of your:
- Personal care costs – the amount you pay for your carers to help with tasks such as dressing, bathing, going to the toilet.
- Daily living costs – if you live in a care home for things such as food, rent, accommodation costs, and energy bills.
From October 2023 the amount you will have to pay for your personal care costs will be capped at £86,000, making it easier to plan ahead. This is equivalent to around three years in care.
Please continue to pay any financial contributions that you have been assessed to pay, you should not stop making any payment for your care and any contributions paid in the coming months will not be taken into account as part of the care cap. The care cap will look at contributions paid towards personal care from October 2023 only.
Please also note that once reaching the care cap you will still be required to continue to pay your daily living costs.
For more information on how these changes may affect you please visit the Social Care Reform (dhsc.gov.uk) website.
What is Live Well North Lincolnshire?
Live Well North Lincolnshire is an online information hub that provides information on a range of organisations, support groups, community groups, events, and activities that are available across the county.
With hundreds of services listed, LiveWell is a wealth of information at your fingertips.