Hi
I’ve not been on here for a while… But things are changing in my situation…
Does anyone out there have experience of having had a Carer’s Assessment?
Did you find it worthwhile, helpful?
If I decide to request one, can it be kept confidential from my Mum (who I care for) and my Sister and take place outside of home?
Probably silly questions, but I thought I’d ask before I go any further.
Best wishes to all fellow Carers out there.
I applied for one when my Mum came out of hospital late 2017. I was not sure what it would do to help me as her full time carer and was very disappointed with the result. The council officer came in January 2018, took out her clipboard and her first question was “were Mums assets over or under the limit of £23,000?”. i replied over so she finished her tea, put her clip board away and told me that there was nothing that she could do for me, that I would have to phone around the care agencies and homes myself as she did to recieve help! I was not asking for any payment being made but some guidance on how to proceed with Mums care! So if your caree is a self funder you are not offered any guidance but left to sort things out yourself, if their assets are under the limit then council help is provided and paid for. Not very helpful I am afraid.
Carers Assessments ?
QUICK LINKS … SEARCH … CARER ASSESSMENTS :
1,455 hits … to individual ilstings and separate threads on said subject.
Needless to say , a real post code lottery.
And … watch out for one of the oldest tricks in the book … " We can offer you XYZ free of charge but … there will be a charge if someone else needs to look ater your caree. Why not take yourself off and see a film , it will only cost you / your caree £ 15 per hour for someone to replace you . "
Any motto here ?
Yeh … the price of watching a film at a cinema for a carer !
The bane of a lone carer.
Internet search … CARER ASSESSMENTS … will reveal guidance from several leading supporting organisations.
Anything in particular we can help you with ?
Thank you both, that doesn’t sound too positive!
I’ve read up on our local Council site and it makes it sound wonderful, (sorry probably sounds a bit cynical) but yes, Mother is a ‘self funder’ - I didn’t realise that might apply to what might be available when looking at a Carer’s Assessment.
I’m not looking for money, just maybe people in the same position that I could meet up with. I’m waiting on a phone call back from an Organisation that is hopefully going to supply me with more information… I was going round in circles on their website trying to find out the info I wanted.
‘carry on regardless’
Yep … classic case of dressing mutton up to be sold as lamb.
Or , painting a sparrow yellow and selling as a canary ?
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just maybe people in the same position that I could meet up with
Start as i did some 20 odd years , brief ad on your local gp’s notice board.
3 / 4 family / kinship carers respond … all in the same boat ( SS Titanic ) … you then have the makings of a mutual cooperation support group !
No academics / suits.
What follows is down to you and your new comrades.
Grass roots at their finest ?
I’ve just applied for one online with the council. I’ll post about the experience when it happens. I recently went to an event at our local Carers Trust centre and they seemed to be very useful. I’d get on their website and register with your local centre and see what support you can get? Good luck 
I agree with the general consensus that when caring for a self-funding relative, Social Services don’t want to know.
I still remember Mum’s visit, posh lady in a furry coat and wearing one of those broches that’s sucks all the joy out of poppy day. Is Mum self-funding? “Yes” Oh good I don’t have to do anything then. Never to be heard from again. This was November 2017.
Now in March 2019 another Social Worker has fought hard to get my Mum home, but basically wants nothing to do with the facilitation of it. I could almost hear her yawning down the phone when I was talking about things I needed to do, to the point I even have to organise Mum’s transport from the home to OUR home despite her being wheelchair bound.
Am I wrong in saying Social Workers are now more involved in saving Council money than looking after the vulnerable?
Thank you Leonie. I was in touch with the local Carer’s Trust a few weeks ago, waited over a week for someone to call me back, then couldn’t speak to him when he finally did 'cos I was visiting my auntie in Hospital (she fell and broke her hip). I rang him back and had to leave a message yet again. Did you have a ‘Well Being Check’ before you asked about a Carer’s Assessment at all?
I shall be interested to hear about how you get on.
Regards.
I’ve been a carer for 6 years and I’ve never even heard of a Well Being Check.
" Well being check " … ?
Jargon used by our supporting organisations to dress mutton up as lamb … one from the Warwickshire branch of the Carers Trust :
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Carers’ Wellbeing Assessments
A Carer’s Assessment is a statutory right (under the Care Act 2014) for adults who look after another adult and who need help to enable them to continue to care.
Its purpose is to assess the impact that the care and support you provide is having on your own wellbeing, as well as important aspects of the rest of your life, including the things you want to achieve day-to-day. Other important issues are also considered, such as whether you are able or willing to carry on caring, whether you work or want to work, and whether you want to study or do more socially. The assessment is used to identify your support needs, and to plan how these can be met.
All carers who access our service will have a Wellbeing Check and will be offered a carers assessment if they choose to have one.
Carers Wellbeing Check
A wellbeing Support worker will have a discussion with you to understand your situation as a carer with the aim of identifying your individual needs and were we can advise and assist you with your caring role.
All wellbeing checks will result in the provision of a personalised and locally tailored information and advice on all aspects of the caring role, and to identify any support that may be available locally through universal services, community and voluntary support.
The service will coordinate and develop a network of support to ensure that you are supported to achieve their individual outcomes and connected to all the relevant services.
Carer Wellbeing Assessment
Carers wellbeing Assessments are delivered by Carers Trust Heart of England, we act as a single point of entry for support to adult carers across Warwickshire through a trusted partnership between the Carer Wellbeing Service and Warwickshire County Council. Where a Carers Wellbeing Assessment indicates that some or all of a carers needs and outcomes can only be met through access to statutory services, the Carers Wellbeing worker will refer the carer to the Warwickshire County Council’s Social Services Care and Support team for a statutory assessment of their eligibility assessment.
For more information please contact us or click here to go to the Warwickshire website
Hi Leonie
I just wondered if you had had your Carer’s Assessment yet, and if so, how did it go?
Hope all is well.
When my husband had a ‘financial assessment’ to decide how much he would have to pay for his Care ( 4 mornings 30 minutes and 3 mornings 45 minutes) it was a somewhat offensive experience.
A woman from the Council came. She started off by saying the charge would be backdated. We had been told by the OT that it would not. She then asked why we didn’t sell our car, we didn’t need one!! How she imagined I would get my husband to the Doctor’s, or go and do the shopping without having to struggle on the bus I don’t know. She then stated that we didn’t need the funeral plans we have in place. Altogether it was an unpleasant experience.
The Social Worker came out recently to do an ‘assessment’ ( not financial) on my husband. She sent him a copy. It was so full of inaccuracies it was laughable. She had written that he was born in Auckland AUSTRALIA!! 
and went on to make further eyebrow-raising statements.
My husband asked for another financial assessment recently when they raised his fees without consulting him. He doesn’t even have £5,000 in savings!
Apparently, I am not entitled to any financial compensation for looking after him as his Full-Time carer ( and wife) I am 85 and have osteoporosis and it’s becoming quite a struggle to stay upbeat. It takes one back to the old song “Money is the Root of All Evil” !! Basically the loud and clear message is they are only interested in taking our money, not in our welfare.
We live in Surrey.
Amble maybe ask the lovely lady from “The Council” about her bloated Pension Scheme and whether she really needs it, look at the shock on her face when you tell her that 5-7% Employer Contribution from Council Tax money is ridiculous and unnecessary and she should be embarrassed to tell you how to keep your finances in order, when you pay for hers.
Especially at a time when Social Care is going downhill.
As for the comment about your car, you would be quite within your rights to tell the snotty thing to mind her own business…