Who qualifies for care and support
All councils across England must apply the national minimum threshold for eligibility for care and support as set out in the Care Act 2014. As part of your assessment, we will consider whether you meet the three conditions set out in the Act, all of which must be met for a person’s needs to be eligible for care and support from the Council.
We always recommend you approach the Council for an assessment, no matter what your circumstances or financial situation. Having an assessment is free of charge and it can help you and others understand your needs better and will help you think through the options.
Understanding your needs
Anyone has the right to ask for an assessment regardless of their financial situation, as long as:
- You appear to have care and support needs because of a physical or mental condition or impairment
- Are aged 18 or over or are moving from children’s services to adult services
- Are ordinarily resident in the Borough of Wandsworth
An assessment is simply a conversation that will help us understand what help and support you might need to cope with life on a day to day basis and live independently in your own home. It is also an opportunity to get information and advice about local services and to consider how to prevent your needs from getting worse.
An assessment usually involves a chat over the phone, followed by a visit in your own home and we are very happy for you to have a friend, relative or carer with you. If you are in hospital, we will try to talk to you before you are discharged to discuss what help you might need in the home whilst you are recovering.
How we decide if you are eligible
As part of your assessment, we will consider whether or not you meet the three conditions set out in the Act, all of which must be met for a person’s needs to be eligible for care and support from the Council:
- Condition 1: Your needs are due to a physical or mental impairment or illness, including physical, mental, sensory, learning or cognitive disabilities or illnesses, brain injuries or substance misuse
- Condition 2: As a result, you are unable to achieve two or more of the outcomes specified in the Care Act, such as being able to prepare your own meals, getting around your home safely, washing yourself or maintain good relationships with family and friends
- Condition 3: As a consequence of being unable to achieve these outcomes, there is, or there is likely to be, a significant impact on your wellbeing
Even if you are not eligible for support from the Council, we will always give you information and advice tailored to your circumstances and let you know if there are any other services which may be able to help you.
What happens next?
At the end of the assessment process we will tell you if you are eligible for care and support. If you are eligible for help from the Council, we will use the information you have given us during the assessment to work out roughly how much it will cost to support your needs. We will also let you know if we can help to pay for this support. If we can help to pay, we will agree an amount of money that is sufficient to meet your assessed care and support needs. We call this a personal budget.
We will then work with you to find out what things you want to change in your life and the things you want to stay the same. You will also need to tell us how you will spend your personal budget to help make these things happen. We call this a care and support plan and we will always ensure it recognises your strengths and helps increase or maintain your independence where possible. Your plan can help you think through what services may be available to meet your needs and how to make these services best work for you and your circumstances.