19 Community care
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2. Where do I start if I think I need help?
To get help, you must have an assessment of your needs. In most cases, you should contact your local authority's (council's) social services department and tell them about your situation, and ask for an assessment. You can also contact them if a relative or neighbour needs help.
If the help you need is only to do with your health, contact your GP. They can get in touch with other people who provide NHS healthcare and who can meet your particular needs, such as a health visitor or physiotherapist.
Some areas have 'care trusts', which deliver both health and social care services. If there is a care trust in your area, your social services department will put you in touch with it.
Whoever you contact, you should only have to give your details once, even if more than one service is involved in deciding on or arranging care. For older people, your local primary care trust (in England) or local health board (in Wales), which are part of the NHS, should work with your council so that you have a 'single assessment' (called a 'unified assessment' in Wales) that will look at all your care needs together.
3. What kind of help is there?
4. Can I get help if I look after someone?
5. Who pays if I get care in my home?
6. What if I have to go into hospital?
7. What if I need to move into a care home?
8. What if I need ongoing nursing care?
9. Will I have to sell my home?
10. Can I claim any benefits if I am in residential care?
11. What choice of care home do I have?
12. What if I want to move to a care home that costs more than the council will pay?
13. What if my move into a care home is temporary?
14. What rights do I have when I am in a care home?
15. What if I have difficulty getting the care I need?
The leaflets in this series give you an outline of your legal rights. They are not a complete guide to the law and are not intended to be a guide to how the law will apply to you or to any specific situation. The leaflets are regularly updated but the law may have changed since this was printed, so information in it may be incorrect or out of date.
If you have a problem, you will need to get more information or personal advice to work out the best way to solve it. See 'Further help' for sources of information and advice.
This leaflet is published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC). It was written in association with Sue Bloomfield, a freelance consumer affairs writer.
Leaflet version: May 2008
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