If you want to challenge a decision about problems around your care needs assessment or paying for your care, find out your rights and what to do.
How to make a complaint if you have problems paying for your care
What can I complain about?
You can complain if:
- your local council or, Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, says you don’t need a service, but you think you do
- there are delays or mistakes in handling your case
- the services arranged aren’t meeting your needs, or
- you’re waiting a long time for equipment or changes.
Follow these steps to work out what you need to do
1. Understand your rights
- You have the legal right to a free care needs assessment to work out how much help you need to live as independently as possible. Your local council, or Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, can’t simply refuse because they don’t think you’ll qualify for support.
- You can ask for a reassessment if you think your circumstances have changed.
- Every local council, or Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland, has their own eligibility criteria for what support you can and can’t receive. But they must follow government guidelines.
- Your local council or Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland has a legal duty to meet your eligible care needs – it’s not enough to say they can’t afford them.
2. How do I challenge my care needs assessment?
Your local council, or your local Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland, has a legal duty to give you a written explanation of their decision.
Take time to read it. If you think it’s unfair, you can ask for your case to be reassessed.
There might simply have been a failure in communication or a misunderstanding that can be easily fixed.
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