How to get a care needs assessment

The assessment is carried out by the adult social care team at the council where your parent lives. An assessor (often a social worker) looks at how your parent manages day to day: washing, dressing, cooking, taking medication, getting around, staying safe, and keeping in touch with people.

It is free for everyone. There is no charge and no means test at this stage. Money only enters the picture afterwards, in a separate financial assessment, and only if the council will be arranging or funding care.

The outcome might be equipment or adaptations at home, care visits, day services, a move to sheltered housing, or a recommendation for a care home. It is about what your parent needs, not about pushing them into residential care.

Contact the adult social care team at your parent’s local council. Most councils have an online referral form; all of them take phone calls. You can request the assessment on your parent’s behalf as long as they agree. A GP, district nurse or hospital team can also refer them, and if your parent is in hospital, the discharge team should arrange an assessment before they leave.

When you make the request, be specific about the difficulties and the risks. Falls, missed medication, weight loss, wandering, leaving the gas on, and carer exhaustion all help the council understand urgency. Vague requests tend to sit in queues; concrete ones get prioritised.

The assessment usually happens at your parent’s home, which lets the assessor see the real environment. Some councils do initial assessments by phone or video. Expect questions about daily routines, health conditions, memory, mobility, nutrition, personal care, and how safe and connected your parent feels.

Encourage your parent to be honest about the hard days, not just the good ones. Many older people underplay their struggles out of pride or fear of losing independence, and an assessment based on a polished performance leads to less help. You can and should be there if your parent wants you present, to add examples they leave out.

If you provide regular care yourself, tell the assessor. You are entitled to a carer’s assessment in your own right, which looks at the impact on you and what support you might get.

A little preparation makes a big difference. Before the visit, pull together:

• A diary of a typical week: what your parent manages alone and where they need help
• A list of medications and health conditions
• Dates of recent falls, hospital visits or near misses
• What family and friends currently do, and how sustainable that honestly is
• Any incidents that worry you, however small they seem
• Your questions, written down, because assessments go quickly

In England, eligibility is set nationally under the Care Act 2014. Broadly, your parent qualifies if their needs arise from a physical or mental condition, those needs mean they cannot achieve two or more everyday outcomes (things like eating properly, washing, dressing, using the toilet, keeping the home safe, or maintaining relationships), and this has a significant impact on their wellbeing.

Meeting the criteria means the council must help meet those needs. It does not automatically mean the council pays: that depends on the financial assessment that follows.

If your parent is eligible, the council produces a care and support plan setting out how their needs will be met, along with a personal budget showing what the care costs. The plan might cover care at home, day services, respite for a family carer, or a care home place.

Then comes the financial assessment, the means test. In England for 2025/26, if your parent’s capital is above £23,250 they pay for their own care; below that the council starts to contribute. The full rules, including how the family home is treated, are in our guide to who pays for care.

If a care home looks likely, start researching early rather than in a crisis. You can browse care homes near your parent, look at the types of care available, and use our guide to choosing a care home when you begin visiting.

If the council decides your parent is not eligible, or offers less help than you believe they need, ask for the decision and reasons in writing. Then use the council’s complaints procedure; every council has one, and councils do change decisions when families push back with evidence.

If the complaint gets nowhere, you can take it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, which is free and independent. And if your parent’s needs change at any point, you can request a reassessment; you do not have to wait for a scheduled review.

If your parent would struggle to take part in the assessment and has nobody suitable to support them, the council must arrange an independent advocate. Ask for one, it costs nothing.

The right to a needs assessment exists across the UK, but the legal framework differs. In Scotland, councils assess needs in a similar way, and personal care is free for those assessed as needing it, though care home accommodation costs are still payable. Wales runs assessments under its own legislation, with its own financial rules, including a single, higher capital limit for residential care. In Northern Ireland, assessments are arranged through health and social care trusts rather than councils.

Wherever your parent lives, the same advice applies: ask early, be concrete about the risks, and describe the worst days honestly.