Carer's Assessment - Experiences

Carers' health and wellbeing
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After eight months of waiting I have just had a Carer’s Assessment!

Has anyone else gone through this, and what do you think of it?

Mind was done by South Gloucestershire Council funded Carer’s Support Centre. I recived a text asking if I still wanted the Assessment. I replied ‘yes’ then I got another asking if I had an email address. This surprised me a little as when I registered with them they had all that info.

OK so a form was sent to me to complete, after which I was told I would get a call or a personal visit to go through it and see what extra help or advice might be available to me.

As everyone else will be aware, as a Carer one becomes a bit of an expert in completing forms! SO I ploughed through telling everything about me and Graham and then through a load of other questions til I got to a page which asked me for my Personal Plan. What ****ing personal plan? Apparently, I should have a plan setting out my goals and what I need to do and what resources I need to achieve them - oh and a date by which they should be achieved.

Am I being thick or is this an Assessment to see what help or support I need, not a damn career review deciding if I am still fit to be employed by an organisation.

I felt so deflated when I read this that the only thing I could think was to put:

Goal ! - WORLD PEACE - Sorry I dont have the resources to achieve this

Goal 2 - Cure Graham of all his ills and ailments - resources needed, the entire resources of the NHS.

Goal 3 - To keep going to the gym to get some time for ME.

After a few days I had an email back thanking me for filling out the form in such detail and asking if I want any emotional support or someone to talk to. No offer of a telephone conversation to go through the form (which I was told would happen). No offer of a personal visit. So all in all this is a ‘tick box exercise’ so the Council can say how wonderful they are checking on Carer’s needs.

Quite simply a total utter waste of my time and effort. I find more support on this Forum, for which I will be eternally grateful to everyone on here.

Phew!! I enjoyed that little rant. I would be interested to hear the experience others have had with a Carer’s Assessment. Feel free to vent like me or tell me I am an idiot and should be grateful someone even got in touch - I have broad shoulders and can cope with all the s**t thrown at me - after all I am a Carer.

Thanks again to everyone on here. I mean that most sincerely folks (oops age is showing).

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Hi @Chris_22081
My Carers Assessment is going back a few years now, so it might well have changed, and of course be different depending on where in the UK you live.

However, mine was totally SH!T£, It took place not in a private office, but in a public building, and was more akin to a casual friendly ‘chat’ rather than a formal assessment. At the end of it, I was told that there wasn’t much they could do if the person I was caring for wouldn’t accept help and support! (Which my caree most definitely wouldn’t).

I left feeling emotionally battered and as though I should just ‘suck it up and get on with it’. As you have already discovered, Carers Assessments are little more than a tick-box exercise, to say that the council has done their job in checking on the Carer’s needs.

I had hoped things might have changed for the better since my Carer’s Assessment several years ago, but it seems not!

However, that said, there is no reason why you cannot put in a formal complaint/objection to the assessment done and request another/or a review of the one carried out. I found over many years of caring, that the more of a pain in the **** one makes of oneself, the more likely it is to yield results!

I wish you luck and keep offloading here if you need to.

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They are a total waste of time in my experience. last one I had a SW Practitioner came out and was here well over an hour ticking boxes and making soothing noises. She asked me what would help me as a Carer. I told her several things, none of which she said they could help with. She left saying she would get back to me but she never did. The only positive was for her - a drive out into the countryside and a couple of free coffees.

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Hi Chris

The tendency with Carers Assessments under the 2014 Act is to look at those areas you tell them you’re struggling with. It sounds like the personal plan should be used that way, although it doesn’t really fit. But basically, what are the parts you struggle with most? Do you find any aspect of the care particularly problematic? This could be for health reasons or other reasons: a son looking after his mother might balk (as would Mum) at his providing intimate personal care, for example. This could alter the assessment for his Mum, but informed by the Carers Assessment. Or it could be that your 3rd goal - getting to the gym - is unaffordable, or more often derailed by care needs: again, making sure your partner is supported so you can escape, keep fit and have a life outside of caring would be the aim. I can understand your frustration, but you can ask to speak to someone to explain your feelings and alter the assessment so that it really helps. That said, with your 3 goals, I’d have been worried about your stress levels too - and asked if you wanted emotional support, too.

Hence the reason you need to talk to someone: venting helped at the time but it’s skewed the assessment.

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I recently had a care needs assessment. It went well. I always recommend making notes and paying attention. Talk to the social worker in order to see what your options are.

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I have not had a Carer Assessment - in fairness, my local Carers Support did suggest I ask for one . But I cannot talk frankly in front of my husband. I am well aware of my own goals and needs - basically to keep myself and the cats safe and myself sane! I have managed to reach out and find a small circle of local friends over the last 3 years and hopefully will be building on this. I can understand your frustration Chris. What kind of help would YOU like?

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Helena.

TBH I don’t know what help I need. I was hoping they would have come up with suggestions as to what might be available,

Graham doesn’t need ‘care’ in the usual sense as he can manage to wash and dress himself - very slowly - but needs me close by for when he stumbles or falls. He cannot shower without me close at hand even though I have installed a shower seat. That was the best thing I did so far as it means he can get in, put the seat down and sit then wash and rinse himself without the indignity of someone else having to do it for him.
The only thing which may help is a ‘sitter’ so I can go out without worrying quite as much - for instance to the gym - but as he has so many good or bad days which change without warning, I have to change my plans at the last minute so having someone in to ‘Graham-sit’ could be unnecessary.
I know I sound like I am moaning, which is not what I want to do, but I was hoping the C.A. would produce ideas that I could consider rather than me having to come up with them.

It feels a bit like someone saying ‘what DONT you know’. If I knew what I dont know, then I would know it…

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Hi Chris. It makes a lot of sense that you were expecting them to tell you what help was available. No one knows what they don’t know! But at the same time, the council has no idea what your circumstances are or what you struggle with. And as someone who has worked in the public sector, I can say that many of the employees are either very new or very poorly trained, so often they don’t even know what is available!

Did you contact them because you thought it was just the next step in the process for you? Or were there things you were hoping they would be able to help with?

As carers, we rarely think about what we actually need and it can be challenging to accept help even if it is offered. I know all too well the frustration of wanting help but not wanting to tell someone how to help you! Having to sit and think about new resources is just one more thing on our already overflowing to-do list. We often leave our own needs as the kast on that list and when we do have time to think, we’re thinking about more practical things.

Some ideas for help you can ask for would be a parttime carer to stay with your partner(?). Do you need any financial assistance or adaptations? They could also point you in the direction of how to access different local groups, that could be for social or physical benefits. If you struggle with making enough meals, they might be able to put you in touch with a charity that could provide you with a bigger freezer, maybe?

Its not unreasonable to expect to speak to a professional who already had insight into what resources you could benefit from. But unfortunately, the public services don’t work that way. They have templates for answering questions, but they aren’t really taught to encourage you to ask the right questions.

If you feel like you are still struggling, I would contact them again and let them know that you weren’t able to complete the assessment the way you would’ve liked to. Ask them to speak to an advisor or officer or whatever again and reassess your circumstances. As with all things, it’s going to take a bit more doing and prompting from you, but it will be worth it if your life and Graham’s can be improved.

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I found my career assessment useless also. Don’t get me wrong the support line has been someone to talk to, but I find there is no real practical support. Sometimes I don’t even think they know the advice they are giving. Go to counseling! (There are no appointments available) Apply for benefits! (I work full time).

I personally think that the legislation around carers need to change. We should have to sign a document agreeing to our roles. Any workplace would have a contract.

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Hi Ashley.
The Assessment was offered when I initially signed up to get a Carer’s Emergency Card so there is contact details should I take ill or be in an accident away from home. I was informed - in May '22 that they would be in touch with me ‘shortly’ to VISIT to carry out a Carer’s Assessment. I did not know - until that letter - that I could get a Carer’s Assessment and there was no explanation or guidance as to what it might involve or what the end result could potentially be. I had - in all naivety - that they would be providing me with details of what help and support is available and make AN ASSESSMENT of what might be useful to me. I didn’t expect and was not prepared to have to list my ‘needs and objectives’ as, like most carers, I am too close to the issue to see most of them.
I pointed out that we had attended one group meeting and felt talked down to and expected someone to come over and say ‘HELLO DEAR we’re going to have a NICE CUP OF TEA in a minute’ in a patronising voice. All I got in response was ‘not all groups are right for everyone’… No suggestion of what other groups might be in the locality or anything constructive.

We are not eligible for any Benefits other than AA and CA as Graham received e legacy from his father an until we spend that we do not qualify. I have done TWO Benefits checks through other resources and the answer is the same. Nada.

I used to run a pub so am used to batch cooking and even do that for an elderly neighbour in order to help her save on her food costs so she eats properly and doesn’t skimp.

You suggest asking to speak to an advisor - that was what I was told would happen after I completed the form, so that they could go through it with me and clarify any issues. That isn’t going to happen as I have been told unless I ask for specific help they don’t think there is anything they can do. Another example of a Carer being left on the side.
The only interesting thing is they say they will carry out another Assessment in a year’s time. Well I won’t hold my breath.

Oh by the way. I did ring in October to ask if I was still on the list for an Assessment and the chap I spoke to them said to me “Is there something you need cos people put too much emphasis on the Carer’s Assessment and it doesn’t really do much”. If that’s how the STAFF talk about it, perhaps I should not be surprised at the outcome.

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Hi CC

I get more support from a couple of friends and my nephew and his wife tbh.

As you say - Benefits, but I cannot get any benefits.

Go to Counselling… Graham had a Memory Assessment and the lovely nurse said she thought he needed to be referred for therapy as she diagnosed him with PTSD due to a couple of things that have happened to him. She rang us a week later in tears saying there was nothing available to him. She was genuinely upset for him as she could see his needs and could do nothing to help.

I know the NHS is stretched, but when Professionals need to refer on and there is nothing there, what hope is there?

Indeed, one of the Trainers at the gym we both go to (well G cannot go now due to Heart problems) has been more use than most of the so-called professionals. She is checking what they might be able to do to support both me and Graham and as soon as Cardiology say he can do, she will get him into one of her Rehab classes. However, we’ve waited 8 weeks for the feedback from his Cardiac MRI and no-one will tell us anything. Knowledge is Power is the expression but keeping knowledge from us just emasculates us.

Right - on with the day again!!

Let’s all keep smiling - then others will wonder what we know that they don’t!!!

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:wink: :rofl: :+1:t6:

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Chris
:joy:
I count my blessings as much as possible. Have to smile otherwise people are inclined to say smile,it might never happen! Little do they know

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Pet66

That is the problem - It might never happen but as Carer’s we already know it HAS!!

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A Carers Assessment can do a lot. IF there’s the will. Before covid, there were signs that finally the authorities were beginning to understand how to use them. When covid hit, they drew in their horns and virtually stopped doing them. I get the feeling that nothing has improved since. Virtually all council services in my neck of the woods are still behaving as if there’s a lockdown. But the law remains the same and covid is no longer a rason to withdraw services, according to the government.

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That’s the same here. I reckon it’s nothing to do with Covid just more people working from home and out of the habit of home visits.

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Partly. But I think they found they were saving a lot of money on heating and other bills, that people weren’t complaining, and that carers took the whole of the extra burden without a whimper. So they could be safely ignored.

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Our post has just arrived and I have a letter from our Council… Concerning my Carer’s Assessment…

It states ‘thank you for returning the Questionnaire in order for us to understand your situation and your needs. We have spoken to you to discuss this and to inform you of what we can do to support you’…

NO THEY HAVENT! I got an email and not the promised phone call - didn’t DISCUSS anything.

Oh and a Feedback form was enclosed… How convenient.

Words now fail me…

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:face_with_symbols_over_mouth: As if Carer’s don’t have enough to deal with.

Are you going to challenge it/put in a formal complaint?

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Oh you betcha I am going to complain.

They quote that it was done in line with Care Act 2014… Well in that case they should not be LYING about speaking to me and they state that my answers show I am at risk of deteriorating health.

Box-ticking bureaucrats !!!

Oh and apparently ‘As part of your plan you have chosen to have a direct payment of £200 to meet your outcomes…’ I was told this would be paid anyway. I didnt CHOOSE it…

These people clearly have NO IDEA of Caring and need to get out from behind their desks to have a look at the real world! Oh no they would melt if they stepped outside their offices.