How to get assessed for care in Barnet

Contacting London Borough of Barnet

• Who: any adult who seems to need support, or a relative for them.
• How: Apply online or call 020 8359 5000.
• Wording: name the Care Act 2014 and ask for a needs assessment.

Uses an online eligibility checker for self-referral; carers' assessments can be arranged through Barnet Carers Centre.

If you are a carer

Carers hold a separate right to be assessed by London Borough of Barnet, free of charge. It does not depend on the person you support having been assessed. London Borough of Barnet: support for carers. Nearby help for carers: Barnet Carers Centre.

What the data shows for Barnet

87% of rated care homes in Barnet are Good or Outstanding, ahead of the England average of 83%. The area has 80 homes, 76 of them rated. Of these, 27 provide nursing, which is 34% of homes in the area. In Barnet, 95% of rated home care agencies are Good or Outstanding (66 rated out of 95 registered). Across England the figure is 88%.

New in the past year: 4 agencies and 2 care homes joined the CQC register in Barnet. 7 of 66 agencies in Barnet are rated Requires improvement or Inadequate for Well-led, the weakest of CQC's five areas locally.

Over the last 12 months CQC published 25 ratings for services in Barnet; of those, 2 improved, 7 were first-ever ratings, most recently on 13 October 2026. 29 home care agencies and 4 care homes in Barnet have no published rating yet, often because they registered recently.

Source: our analysis of CQC data (Oct 2026).

Before the visit

• Write down, over an ordinary week, the tasks that cause trouble and what goes wrong without help.
• Get the written record and the plan sent to you.
• Describe a bad day, not a good one. People often say they manage when they do not.
• Ask for a relative or friend to be there, or for an independent advocate if there is no one.
• Note every prescription, condition, fall and spell in hospital.

What the assessment involves

Some councils start with a phone conversation and offer short-term help, such as reablement or equipment, before a full assessment. Reablement is free for up to six weeks.

At a full assessment, someone from adult social care (often a social worker or OT) covers putting on clothes, looking after the home, moving around safely, keeping clean, meals and drinks, keeping in touch with others and continence and the toilet. National eligibility rules say needs qualify if they make a significant difference to wellbeing, stem from a physical or mental condition, and mean the person cannot achieve two or more of these outcomes.

If you disagree with the decision

1. Request written reasons and a review.
2. Still unhappy? Make a formal complaint to the council.
3. Finally, take it to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, at no charge.