Eligibility - Fair Access to Care Services

There is a wide range of community care services, for example, arranging help in the home, a day care service or making arrangements for providing a place in either a residential or nursing home.

In order to establish whether an individual is eligible for a community care service, there are three stages to go through.

• Stage One: Qualifying for a Community Care Assessment
• Stage Two: Community Care Assessment to work out needs
• Stage Three: A decision as to whether the individual is eligible to receive a service under Fair Access to Care Services

Eligibility Framework

There are four bands to the eligibility framework which are as follows;

• Critical
• Substantial
• Moderate
• Low

Needs Assessment

Needs are categorised as presenting needs and eligible needs. The purpose of the assessment of needs is to identify and evaluate an individual's presenting needs and how they constrain to support his or her capacity to live a full and independent life. During the assessment process information of all presenting needs is gathered and then evaluated against the risks to the individual's: -

• Autonomy;
• Health and Safety;
• Ability to manage daily routines;
• Involvement in family or wider community life.

If an individual is assessed as having eligible needs, they may nevertheless be required to pay for or make a contribution toward some community care services – See our Charges for Services information.

Whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for County Council funded services, our Access Centre can provide you with advice and information about sources of help and support within the community.

Information Download

Download the full Eligibility - Fair Access to Care Services information (PDF 98 KB) which includes:

• The stages in detail
• Breakdown of the four bands  

Large print version of the Eligibility - Fair Access to Care Services information (PDF 103 KB). 

See also:

The Department of Health: Fair access to care services
Guidance on eligibility criteria for adult social care. Visit the DoH website.

Find out more

You can ask for help yourself or you may ask someone such as a relative, friend or health professional to contact us on your behalf. In the first instance contact should be made with a Customer Services Advisor at:

The Access Centre.

Tel: 0845 607 2000

Email: socialcare@worcestershire.gov.uk.

Alternatively contact

• Worcestershire Royal Hospital - 01905 760700
• Alexandra Hospital - 01527 503873
• Worcestershire Carers Unit - 01905 728824
• Emergency Duty Team (Out of hours service) - 01905 768020

This page was last reviewed 26 March 2013 at 13:07.
The page is next due for review 22 September 2014.