Few carers given assessments for services

Fewer than 400,000 of England’s estimated five million carers were offered an assessment or review for services in 2005-6, figures out today show.

The statistics show 284,000 of the 388,000 offered an assessment or review received a service, while 91,000 were offered a review or assessment in their own right, separately from the person they care for.

The Community Care Statistics 2006, published by the Information Centre for Health and Social Care, also showed that 75 per cent of new older clients had an assessment completed within four weeks of contact with social services, up from 70 per cent in 2004-5.