Care needs assessments in Devon

Contacting Devon County Council

• Who: any adult who seems to need support, or a relative for them.
• How: Use the online request form, or ring the team on 0345 155 1007.
• Wording: name the Care Act 2014 and ask for a needs assessment.

Devon asks people to try its online self-help tool first, which can lead to an online self-assessment; Adult Social Care can help you complete it by phone. Carers can request a carer's assessment, by phone or in person, through the Caring In Devon Helpline on 03456 434 435, Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm.

Inside a care needs assessment

The conversation is about daily life: dressing, a habitable home, getting about the home safely, washing, eating, staying in contact with people and managing the toilet. An assessor, usually a social worker or occupational therapist, leads it, with relatives present if the person wishes.

Under the national criteria, needs qualify when they harm wellbeing significantly, are linked to an impairment or illness of body or mind, and leave them unable to manage at least two of the outcomes. A first call may lead to quick help (equipment, or up to six weeks of reablement at no charge) before any full assessment takes place.

What the data shows for Devon

4 home care agencies and 14 care homes in Devon registered with CQC in the last 12 months. Look closely at Well-led when you read reports for agencies in Devon: 14 of the 120 rated for it fall below Good. Outstanding ratings are most common for Caring: 25 of 120.

153 home care agencies are registered with CQC in Devon. Of the 120 with a rating, 92% are Good or Outstanding, ahead of the England figure of 88%. Not every service has been inspected: in Devon, 33 agencies and 20 care homes are still waiting for a first rating.

CQC registers 309 care homes in Devon. 289 are rated, and 90% of these are Good or Outstanding; the England figure is 83%. Of these, 63 provide nursing, which is 20% of homes in the area. In Devon, CQC has published 57 ratings in the past 12 months: 1 was upgraded, 6 fell, 7 services were rated for the first time; the newest is from 16 October 2026.

Figures: CQC register, Oct 2026.

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.

A carer's assessment for you

Unpaid carers count too. Request a carer's assessment from Devon County Council; it is free to you, and you need not wait for the other person's assessment. Devon County Council: support for carers.

Getting ready for the assessment

• 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.
• 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.