Adult social care and support

How adult social care can help

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Where to start

If you think you have care and support needs, the first step is to talk to us. This helps us to understand your needs, or those of someone you look after.

We will have open conversations with you and your family or a carer if you wish, to understand:

  • your concerns
  • what you have already tried to improve your independence or wellbeing
  • what might be the next best steps for you

We can also talk about the needs of family members with caring responsibilities. This includes any children in the household.

We will do this by:

  • getting to know you
  • listening to what's important to you
  • understanding what you can do yourself or with support
  • what your ambitions are to have a more fulfilling life

Help in your community

The first thing we do is try to connect you with support in your local community. Our focus will be on helping you to keep your independence and wellbeing. We will look at support to help to prevent your care and support needs from getting worse. This support to help you stay at home could include:

  • equipment to help you be more mobile
  • help with meals
  • how to get out and about
  • information and advice

We expect short term support to reduce or end over time as your independence grows.

Longer term needs

If you have longer term or more complex needs, we may need to carry out a more detailed assessment. This will help us understand your needs and see if you are eligible to get social care support. We usually do this when you are at your best and in a familiar environment, ideally at home.

We will look at how we can increase your independence. As your independence grows, where possible, we will see if we can reduce those services.

When completing assessments, we take a 'whole family' approach. We will ask you questions about yourself and your support network. If you have a carer, we will invite them to be a part of the assessment. We will ask if they want an assessment of their own needs.

See Looking after family or friends to find out more.

Getting an assessment

We use the national eligibility rules set out within the Care Act 2014 to see if you qualify for support from us. This means people get the same access to care and support wherever they live. We do this with an assessment of your support needs. There is a different set of eligibility criteria for carers.

To find out more about eligibility and getting an assessment see:

If you think you are unlikely to qualify for support from us we can still offer information and advice. To find out more see:

Will you have to pay?

Information, advice and assessments are free. There may be a cost to any care and support services you get from us. If you qualify for support we will ask you to do a financial assessment. This will help us to work out how much you can afford to pay towards this cost.

You will have to pay for the full cost of your care if you have savings of:

  • £23,250 or above for residential services
  • £24,500 or above for non-residential services

To find out more see:

Do your financial assessment online

You can do your financial assessment online. You'll be able to see what you may have to pay towards your care and support. You can choose to complete the assessment for your information only.

See Your financial assessment.

Direct payments

If we agree to meet your eligible social care needs we may offer you a direct payment. This lets you choose and arrange your own support.

See Direct payments.

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