Contact your local council's social care department and ask for an assessment of your care needs. This is known as self-referral.

You can ask someone else to do this for you, like:

• your carer
• your GP
• a district nurse
• a member of hospital staff
• a local housing officer
• a welfare rights officer
• a citizens advice worker
• a relative
• an advocate

Find out more about advocacy

When you phone the social care department, you'll be asked questions to find out how urgent your needs are.

If your needs are urgent, you may get help immediately, before the assessment of your care needs can be arranged. This doesn't take the place of a full assessment of your care needs, which you'll get at a later date.

Visits are carried out in order of priority of need. If your needs aren't urgent, you may have to wait for a few weeks for your assessment.

If you think you or the person you care for may need to move into a care home, contact the social care department who can help you to:

• decide whether you should really move to a care home
• find a suitable home
• understand your eligibility for financial support, including free nursing and personal care

Find out more about care homes