Social care assessment

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Everyone with MS is entitled to an assessment to see if they are eligible for social care. The local authority will carry out an assessment of your needs in key areas, including whether you can:

live safely and stay healthy
cope with essential daily tasks (such as washing, dressing or eating)
keep in contact with your family, friends and the local community

All local authorities must publish information on how they assess your needs. Ask them to send you a copy or find it on their website.

Preparing for the assessment

To receive support, you will have to show your local social care services what you need help with. Before meeting them, you might want to think about:

what your needs are
how much help you need and how often
how you would like the help to be provided

When you note down your needs, remember:

Don’t pretend you do not need help when you do – if it’s a struggle to do something, make that clear, even if it is a task you can manage.
Don’t underestimate the time something takes – if you are not sure, then time the activity – be honest, if it takes an hour to have a bath, then put down one hour.
Think about the fact that things might take longer on a bad day. If it does, say so.
Don’t think just of the ‘essentials’, such as getting up, getting food, going to bed. Life is more than this, and you are entitled to ask for help so you can visit friends and family, have a social life, look after the children, go to the pub, attend an educational course and whatever you would do if you had support to let you do it.
Don’t assume social workers have a good understanding of MS, or how it affects you. You might have very different needs to someone else with MS, and you are the expert in your situation.

Carer's Assessment

If you have a family member or friend providing care, they are also entitled to an assessment of their needs by the local authority of their needs.

Some carers provide care for a few hours a week, others for 24 hours a day, every day. A carer does not have to be living with the person being cared for.

Find out more about carers' assessments

Remember, if your circumstances change, you are entitled to be assessed again at any time. Care assessments are handled slightly differently in Scotland. The MS Essential [link to Scottish essential] has more details.

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