Access Social Care

Who we are

Access Social Care provides free legal advice and information for people with social care needs, helping achieve a better quality of life.  

We work with communities to increase knowledge of the law and our rights. We highlight the gap left by cuts to Legal Aid and provide advice for those who can’t afford it.

With a 98% success rate, our network of lawyers and barristers ensure fair access to justice when things go wrong. We collaborate with social services whilst ensuring legal obligations are met.

We are working towards a future where social care is adequately funded, and we all get the support we need.

What is social care?

Social care is care and support for people who need extra help to live safe, independent and fulfilling lives. Social care can change lives.

Social care can include: residential care support with personal care such as eating, washing, or getting dressed, personal assistants or carers to support when going out shopping or socialising or specialist recreational services.

Most of us will need social care at some point in our lives. Demand for care is rising sharply as people are living longer due to advances in health care and better standards of living. But our social care system is not keeping pace.

Only 43% of people who request social care from their local authority receive it.

There are at least 1.5 million people living without the care they need.

Only 43% of people who request social care from their local authority receive it.

What is the issue?

Everyday millions of older and disabled people are denied the social care they need.  Most local authorities can’t meet the growing demand for care, none are confident they can meet their legal duties in the future. This affects all of us, we will all need social care at some point.

We all have a right to hold public bodies to account. But most of us cannot afford lawyers so rely on legal aid. The 92% drop in legal aid cases since 2010 means we have nowhere to turn. Without access to justice, our rights do not exist. The rule of law is broken.

How we do it

Access Social Care ensures people get the social care that they have a right to, so that they can live fulfilled lives in the community. We link our legal knowledge to other organisations across the disability and older persons sector whose front line staff all have regular contact with people with social care needs and their families.