united-kingdom duty-of-care local-authority
Can a need assessment for the purpose of the Care Act 2014 be done privately?
<p>Generally they are required to be performed by a local authority. However, for NHS medical assessments, there is a statutory right to choose where the period of time that has passed since the referral has been made exceeds a certain length. Under the right-to-choose, the NHS must still finance the private assessment that would be undertaken under the right-to-choose.</p>
<p>Regardless of whether the LA must compensate the cost of a privately procured need assessment, legally, should it recognise the outcome of a privately procured assessment undertaken for the purpose of establishing need for the care act 2014 if one is arranged?</p>

<p>Legally, a local authority is not required to recognize the outcome of a privately procured assessment undertaken for the purpose of establishing need for the Care Act 2014.</p>
<p>The local authority has a duty to complete its own assessment under the Act and may not simply accept a privately procured assessment as valid. However, a privately procured assessment may provide useful information that can be taken into consideration by the local authority in carrying out its own assessment.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it is up to the local authority to determine the weight and relevance of the information provided by privately procured assessments.</p>
