Carer's assessment

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If you are caring for someone else aged 18 or over on a regular basis, without being paid for it, you are entitled to have a carer’s assessment.

The assessment provides you with the opportunity to tell us what support you need to be a carer.

It is beneficial to have your assessment jointly with the person you care for. This allows us to coordinate the care and support that you both need, and means that you only have to tell your story once.

Having a joint assessment will still give you an opportunity to talk in private with the assessor. They will discuss with you the best way to achieve this. You will also still be able to receive your own individual report following the assessment.

Our Community Advice Hubs can help you understand more about carers assessments and how to request one.

Who do I contact about carer's assessments?

Solihull Council is responsible for carrying out carer's assessments where the person who needs care lives in the borough of Solihull. You can confirm this by checking who provides their council services such as bin collections or recycling. 

We are responsible for carer's assessments and support even if you (the carer) live in another local authority area, as long as the person you care for lives in Solihull.  

If you (the carer) live in Solihull and the person you care for lives in another area, you will need to approach their local authority for help and support in relation to your caring role. 

How to request your carer's assessment

If the person you care for does not receive any support from our adult social care teams, please contact Carers Trust Solihull about your carer's assessment.  You can:

If the person you care for is supported by our adult social care teams, please contact us to request a carer’s assessment.  You can:

You can also contact us if you are unsure whether the person you care for is supported by our adult social care teams.

What information will I need to provide

For your carer's assessment you will need to provide the following:

  • your name, contact details and some information about your caring role
  • the name, address, contact details and care needs of the person you support

You can have your carer's assessment at a time and place that suits you.

If you have difficulty understanding, remembering or using information, or have difficulty getting your point across, you may want to use an advocate. An advocate is someone who can help you be heard, represent you and support you with your assessment.

The carer's assessment process

During the assessment we’ll ask you about:

  • the impact the care and support you provide has on your own wellbeing
  • the impact it has on the important elements of your life
  • what you want to achieve day to day
  • whether you work or want to work
  • whether you study or want to study
  • whether you want to do more socially

We will also talk about your ability and wishes to carry on with your carer’s role and what changes can be made to allow you continue to provide care and improve your own life.

Save a copy of the assessment

You can download and open a file or document of the carers assessment to your own computer. Selecting the links below will automatically start the download from the Solihull Council website. Some of these files are very large.

Once the file opens you can save or print it. Please remember that some of these files are very large and may require a lot of paper and black and coloured ink to print successfully.

You can choose to:

What happens after the assessment?

Once your assessment has taken place you will be sent a copy of it. You will also be sent an estimate of your personal budget if you are entitled to receive support from Solihull Care and Support team.

Whether you can receive care and support from Solihull Council will be based on the results of your assessment against the outcomes in the national eligibility criteria.

The amount of your actual care and support budget will be confirmed once your carers support plan has been put together. This allows the costs of your carers support plan to be better understood.

Your care and support plan will be reviewed by Solihull Care and Support services within 6 to 8 weeks. This might take place over the telephone.

Further reviews will take place a minimum of once every 12 months. We will ask if you would like to have a joint review alongside the person you care for. Like with a joint assessment, this will be beneficial in coordinating the care and support for you both.

What if I do not agree with the assessment?

If you do not meet the national eligibility criteria our Adult Social Care team will provide you with information and advice on what community support is available. They will:

  • discuss services which you can pay to receive
  • explore ways that you might find funding to pay for them

You will always have an opportunity to give feedback about your assessment and, if you disagree with the results, you can ask for this to be looked at again.