Get help with your care and support needs

Who we are able to support

We would like to support everyone but unfortunately we are unable to as we have limited money to assist and a lot of people ask us for help. There are alot of services that offer advice and support in your local community. These services may help with what you need. Equipment and gadgets to help you at home and in the community may also help.

We use criteria set by the government to tell us who we can support.

Decisions on care and support

We can only assist you if you're entitled to support under the law (the Care Act 2014). For more information, see the decisions on your long term care and support section below. We will complete a needs assessment with you to find out if we can support you.

You will probably need to contribute towards the cost of your care even you are eligible for support from us. You will need to pay for your own care costs in full if you own capital in excess of £23,250. For more information see our paying for your care page. We will tell you about resources in your community and equipment and gadgets before considering support from us.

Adult Social Care cannot help with housing or benefits e.g. job seekers allowance related issues. If you would like help with a housing issue please go to the housing section. If you would like help with benefits please go to the benefits and support section.

Needs assessments

We can provide you with information, advice and support to help you with your care and support needs without the need to complete an assessment with you.

We'll complete a needs assessment with you if you appear to have care and support needs and you'd like an assessment. We'll do this within an appropriate and reasonable time period (taking into account the urgency of your needs).

We'll involve anyone that you want to be involved in the assessment (for example family, friends, carers and support professionals). If you do not have friends or family we can arrange for an advocate to support you if you are likely to experience substantial difficulties and need help with the process.

Together we'll look at how you can remain independent for as long as possible and also ways to prevent, reduce or delay your need for long term care.

It is likely you will need to contribute towards the cost of your care and support. We will complete a financial assessment with you to find out if you need to pay.

For more information on how we can help, see how we can support you.

Decisions about meeting your long term support needs

We use the criteria set out by the government in the Care Act to tell us if we can offer you support.

You can find information on this using the web links below:

Most adult social care services are means tested. If you want to find out what you will have to contribute to your care, you can use our online contribution calculator.

How we can help even if we cannot support you with your care and support needs 

If you're not eligible for support from us under the law, we can still offer you information and advice so that you can continue to live independently and maintain a good quality of life.

There are a range of support services in the community that can help.

Arranging a needs assessment

To request a needs assessment, use the applicable contact details below.

If you're an older person or you have a physical disability and are 18 years+:

If you're affected by mental health difficulties:

If you're affected by learning disabilities:

If you are receiving Children’s services and are turning 18 years old:

Contact us

Your emails will be responded to as soon as possible by a member of our team during opening hours. Emails received at weekends will be dealt with on Mondays, except on bank holidays.

When you contact us we'll ask you for details. Depending on the information you provide, we'll either:

  • give you immediate information and advice regarding local support and services
  • redirect you to a more appropriate source to deal with your request, if we aren't able to help
  • refer you to the appropriate team or arrange an appointment for a practitioner in the team to find out more about your situation

Opening hours

  • Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
  • Saturday and Sunday, closed

If there's an emergency outside of our working hours, contact our out of hours team (our out of hours services solely deals with emergencies; it doesn't deal with general enquiries).

  • Out of Hours 020 7525 5000

You will find on this page under ‘documents’ a leaflet that provides information about care and support for adults with care needs in Southwark. You can download and print this leaflet.

Page last updated: 02 April 2024

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