Direct Payments - Your Care Your Choice Booklet

Cumbria County Council

Serving the people of Cumbria cumbria.gov.uk

Adult Social Care

Direct

Payments

Your care,

your choice

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

About this booklet

Direct Payments is one of a number of ways you can use your Personal Budget to

arrange your care and support services in partnership with Cumbria County Council’s

Adult Social Care service.

This booklet tells you:

• whatDirectPaymentsareandhowtheymighthelpyou;

• whocanhaveaDirectPayment;

• wheretogoforinformationandpracticalhelp;

• howtoaskforaDirectPayment;

• whatyourcaseworkerwilldo;and

• whatyouwillbeexpectedtodotosetupyourcareusing

Edward McClure

Edward needs 24 hour care at home.

Edward’s daughter Carol is the main

carer and uses direct payments to buy

personal care for her father and respite

for weekends and holidays for herself.

Edward

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

What are Direct Payments?

If you think you need care or support services, Cumbria County Council’s Adult Social

Care service will carry out an assessment of your needs and decide how much money

could be available to meet your needs. Once we have carried out this assessment, you

will be helped to draw up a Support Plan of how you think your

needs can best be met.

There are three ways in which you can use your Personal Budget to arrange the

support you need:

• wecangiveyouyourPersonalBudgetasaDirectPaymentsoyoucanarrange

yourownservicesinthewayinwhichyouprefer;

• wecanarrangetheservicesyoupreferforyouusingyourPersonalBudget;or

• youcanhaveacombinationofthetwo.TakingsomeofyourPersonalBudgetas

a Direct Payment and arranging your own services and having us arrange some

services for you.

Some services you decide you want, may only be possible using a Direct Payment

such as using a local person to help you or buying from a local provider.

A Direct Payment is money we can give you, to enable you to arrange and be in control

oftheservicesyouchoosetomeetyourneeds.Forexample,youcanusetheDirect

Payment to:

• employyourownstaff;

• designyourownservicethattsyourchoicesandneeds;

• buyequipmentthatbettertsyourlifestyle;

• arrangeyourownrespitecaretoofferyouoryourcarerabreak;

• payacareagencytoprovideyoudirectlywithservices;or

• acombinationofanyofthese.

However, there are some rules. You must spend your Direct Payment on things that

your assessment shows that you need. You can never use your Direct Payment to buy:

• servicesfromthelocalauthoritybutyoucanaskustobuythemonyourbehalf;

• longtermresidentialcare;or

• anythingthatdoesnotmeetyouragreedneeds.

Edward McClure

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

How will Direct Payments help me?

Direct Payments can give you greater control and choice in:

• theservicesyoureceive,

• whoprovidesthesetoyou,

• whenyoureceivethemandwhere.

HerearesomeexamplesofhowDirectPaymentscouldhelpyou:

You could choose your own home carer rather than having whoever is sent to you:

“The carers sent by the agency were always very nice but I would never know

who was going to turn up. Now I use my Direct Payments to employ a lady from

our village to help me get up and go to bed. I still use the agency for some calls

and for cover.”

You could arrange for your home carer to come at different times to suit what you want

to do:

“Although I have care needs I still work. I found that when my job required me to

have an early start it was often difcult to reorganise my care from its usual time

in the morning, if it was short notice it was impossible. I still have my regular care

from Cumbria Care but I use my Direct Payment to pay a friend when I need an

early ‘get up”.

Instead of going regularly to the same day centre, you could choose to go to different

centres or do different activities:

“I go to the day centre twice a week but I wanted to do an art class at my local

college. I now have one day at the day centre and a Direct Payment for the other

day which I use to pay someone to help me get to the college and to meet my

care needs at my class.”

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

If you are a carer and are going on holiday, you could arrange for the person you look

after to stay at home rather than having to go into a residential home:

“When I went away for a break my husband used to go into a local residential

home for a short stay. The home was nice but not really his cup of tea. Now we

have a Direct Payment and we organise a short term care package at home for

him so that he gets to stay at home and I get my break.”

Ifyouhavebeenassessedasneedingapieceofequipmenttohelpyouandyouwould

like a different model or style:

“We wanted a more portable hoist so we could take it with us when we stayed

with our daughter. We got a Direct Payment equal to the cost of the hoist that the

Adult Social Care Directorate would provide and topped it up with some money

of our own so that we could buy a more portable model.”

Andy Hopley

Andy uses direct payments to arrange

his own personal assistants through a

local agency. His personal assistants

support him at residential college

during the week and to help him go out

into town and socialise at the weekend.

Andy

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

Who can have a Direct Payment?

You are eligible to receive a Direct Payment if you:

• havebeenassessedasneedingcareservicesorasneedingapieceofequipment

tohelpyou;

• areacarerwhohasbeenassessedasneedingsupporttohelpyoulookafter

someoneelse;or

• areaparentofadisabledchildassessedasneedingcare.

and

• youareabletounderstandwhataDirectPaymentisandthatyouwillbe

responsibleforhowitisspent;

• youareabletodirectyouowncare-thismeansyouareabletosaywhatyouwant

andwhenyouwantit;

• youareabletomanagethemoneywithsomeone’shelporbyyourself.(Thereis

more about the help available later in this booklet.)

Cumbria County Council will offer Direct Payments to everyone who is eligible. However

there are a very small number of people who the law does not allow to have a Direct

Payment:

• peoplegoingthroughthecriminaljusticesystemorpeoplewhoareservinga

communitysentenceforacriminaloffenceorwhoareonleavefromprison;and

• peoplewhoarereceivingcertaintypesoftreatmentundertheMentalHealthAct,

people receiving community care as part of a compulsory court order or people

receiving compulsory treatment for substance misuse.

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

Where can I go for information and

practical help?

There are three main local sources of support for Direct Payments:

• yourcaseworker;

• CumbriaIndependentDirectPaymentsAdviceandSupportService;and

• FinancialAssessmentOfcers

Your case worker

Your case worker might be a social worker, occupational therapist or care coordinator.

This is the person who will carry out the initial assessment and who will discuss the

differentoptionswithyou.TheywillhaveexperienceofDirectPaymentsandhow

others like you have used them to design their own care plan. They will contact you

regularly to check if all is going well and are able to help and advise you if:

• yourneedsorcircumstanceschange;

• youwanttomakechangestohowyouspendyourDirectPayment;and

• youneedadviceonanyothermatter.

Adult Social Care Directorate staff cannot advise you on employment matters.

Direct Payments Advice and Support Service

This is a service run by The Penderels Trust and it is not part of Adult Social Care. They

can tell you about and support you with Direct Payments.

Forexampletheycanexplain:

• thedifferentoptionsforarrangingyourcareservices;

• thebenetsforyouofusingDirectPayments;

• yourresponsibilitiesifyouarrangeyourcareusingDirectPayments;and

• thetermsandconditionsforreceivingDirectPayments;

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

They can give you practical support with:

• designingyourownDirectPaymentplan.Thisisyourplanofhowyouwouldlike

yourcareneedsmet;

• settingupyourDirectPaymentbankaccount;

• advertising,recruitingandemployingyourownstaff.Ifthatistheoptionyou

choose;and

• llingintheformsandpaperwork.

Financial Assessment Ofcers

TheAdultSocialCareDirectoratealsoemploysFinancialAssessmentOfcers

whosejobitistoensurethatDirectPaymentsareproperlyaccountedfor.Thereis

atleastoneineverylocalofce.Theycanalsoofferyoupracticalhelpwith:

• thesmallamountofDirectPaymentnancialpaperwork;and

• anyquestionsyoumighthaveaboutthenancialsideofyourDirectPayment.

DetailsofhowtocontacttheFinancialAssessmentOfcersareatthebackof

this booklet.

Betty Fallon

Betty, who has dementia, and her son

use direct payments to buy care from

a local care worker who Betty knows

well. Betty’s son says direct payments

have enabled them to buy in the care

she needs and gives the family peace

of mind knowing she is safe.

Betty

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

How do I ask for a Direct Payment?

To receive a Direct Payment, you and/or the person your look after must have an

assessment of need from Cumbria County Council’s Adult Social Care Directorate.

If you have already had an assessment from us, you should ask your case worker for

a review of your care so that you have an up to date agreement about your needs. If

you have not had an assessment, or if you are unsure who your case worker is, contact

CustomerServicesatyourlocalAdultSocialCareofce(seeaddressesatthebackof

this booklet). They will then ask a case worker to arrange an appointment to visit you.

What will my case worker do?

Yourcaseworkerwillcarryoutanassessment(orreview)ofyourneeds.Your

assessment is a discussion and agreement about your care needs. It includes

discussing areas such as:

• Whatcaretasks,suchaswashinganddressing,canyoudobyyourself?

• Whatcaretaskscanyoudoifsomeonehelpsyou?

• Aretherecaretasksyoucannotdoatall?

• Whohelpsandsupportsyouatpresent?

• Whatisthebestwayofmeetingyourneeds?

• Whatequipmentisrequiredtopromoteindependenceandsafety?

• Howmuchhelpisyourcarerabletoofferyou?

You should try to think about your care needs before your assessment so that you can

describe them clearly to your case worker.

Following the assessment, your case worker will give you a copy of the assessment

form that summarises your needs. You might want to discuss the different ways in which

any needs could be met. This could be in the form of Direct Payment or services that

couldbearrangedbyyourcaseworkerforyouoramixtureofthemboth.

You can then compare this with your own view of how you would like your care needs to

be met. You may then want to consider the option of receiving a Direct Payment.

ADirectPaymentdoesoffermoreexibilitysoyoumayndthatyoucouldbuymore

services yourself within the budget allowed. However, any services you buy must help

to meet your assessed needs. You should discuss this with your case worker.

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

Contributions to the cost of

non-residentialservices

Ifyouareassessedasneedingnon-residentialservicessuchashomecareorday

care,wewillarrangeanassessmentofyournances.Thiswillhelpusdecideifyou

will be asked to contribute towards the cost of these services and if so, how much.

If you are receiving a Direct Payment, this will be reduced by any amount you have

been assessed as having to contribute. If you are assessed as not having to pay for

your services, your Direct Payment will not be affected. For more information about

contributionsandthenancialassessment,seeourbooklet‘How much will I pay?

Contributions to personal budgets and non-residential services’.

Bernadette Quinn

Bernadette was offered day care but

decided to use direct payments to

employ her own personal assistants.

They help her go out and have enabled

her to develop a busy work and social

life.

Bernadette

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

What will I have to do?

ToobtainaDirectPayment,youwillhavetoproduceaDirectPaymentPlan(aplanof

howyouwouldusethepayment)andacostingplan(ofthecostsinvolved).Thecare

plan will describe:

• yourcareneeds,includingyourneedsidentiedinyourassessment;

• whichneedswillbemetbyDirectPayments;

• howthoseneedswillbemet,thatis,theservicesorequipmentyouwillbuyorhow

youwillmeettheneed;

• whetherthereislikelytobeanyvariationinthewayyoumeetyourneeds;

• whatsupport,ifany,youmightneedtomanagetheDirectPayment;and

• whatcontingencyarrangementsyouhavemadetocoveremergencies(for

example,yourusualcarerhasgoneoffsick).

This should be as realistic as possible and cover all the costs, which you are likely

to encounter. The Direct Payments Advice and Support Service can give you more

information and practical help in doing this.

If you are going to employ staff, you will need to include their hourly rate, the number

of hours, any Employer National Insurance costs, liability insurance, training and so on.

If you decide to buy a service from an agency, you will need to include the number of

hours and the particular rates that apply to all aspects of the work, any mileage charges

and so on.

You may choose to meet your needs using a variety of methods and these will need to

be costed carefully to ensure that you can meet your needs with the budget you have.

Bernadette Quinn

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

Whathappensnext?

OnceyouaresatisedthatyouwanttofollowuptheDirectPaymentsoption,you

should contact your case worker in order to submit your own Direct Payment Plan and

costing. The Direct Payment Advice and Support Service can help you with this.

If the Direct Payment is to go ahead you will receive an agreement from us which will

conrmyourcareplandetails.Theagreementwillincludethetermsandconditionsof

receiving a Direct Payment. You will need to check these and if you agree to them, you

should sign the agreement and send it back to us.

Itmaybepossibletomakesingle“oneoff”DirectPaymentsforequipment,xedterm

packages or respite care without a separate bank account but for repeated or ongoing

Direct Payments you must set up a separate account. This can also be used for

Independent Living Fund, Access to Work funding and any other care payments. This

willenableyoutokeepyourothernancialaffairsseparateandprivate.Youshould

send us your Direct Payment bank account details with your agreement as soon as

possible so we can start the payments.

IfyouhavedifcultysettingupaseparateaccounttheDirectPaymentAdviceand

Support Service can help you with this.

TheCommunityFinanceOfcerswillthensendyou:

• detailsofwhentherstpaymentwillbepaidintoyournominatedbankaccount;

• alistofdateswhensubsequentDirectPaymentswillbepaidintoyouraccount;and

• nancialreturnformswithinstructionsonhowyoushouldcompletetheseona

monthly basis.

(Pleasenotethatthemonthlynancialreturnformsarealsoavailableinelectronic

formatonrequest.)

TheCommunityFinanceOfcerscanalsogiveyouinformationabout:

• howthepaymentswillbemadeandthepracticalitiesofreceivingpayments;

• thenancialrecordsyouwillneedtokeep;and

• themonthlyreturnsyouwillbeexpectedtoprovidetousandhowtocomplete

these.

Theycanalsovisityouathometoexplainthingsinmoredetail.

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

What happens if my circumstances

change?

Your case worker should review your assessment at least annually. This will provide you

with a regular check on how well your arrangements are meeting your needs. However,

ifatanytime,youfeelyourcircumstanceshavechanged;youshouldcontactyourcase

workertorequestanotherassessment.

YoumayndthatyourcostshaveincreasedandtheDirectPaymentisnolonger

adequatetomeetyourneedsorthatyouarespendinglessthanyouexpected.Inthese

circumstances, you should contact your case worker.

The Direct Payment Advice and Support Service can help you with changes to your

costings.AnyrequestsforincreasestoDirectPaymentswillneedtobediscussedwith

your case worker.

Although your case worker will retain responsibility to ensure that your assessed needs

are met, Direct Payments do give you more independence and control. You should

make sure that your plans enable you to meet your needs and control your services

asfarasispossible.Forexample,youshouldhavecontingencyarrangementsinplace

in case your usual carers are unable to provide you with care. You should also plan

tohavesufcientmoneyinyouraccounttopayadditionalcostsofagenciesduring

bank holidays.

The Direct Payment Advice and Support Service can help you to ensure your

arrangements are as comprehensive as possible. They can also provide you with

practicalsupporttohelpyoumanageyourcarearrangements,forexample,with

payroll for any staff you employ.

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

What do I do if there is an

emergency?

While you should have contingency arrangements in place, these may not be able to

deal with every eventuality. If your care arrangements break down, you may need help

toresolvethisurgently.Ifthishappensduringofcehours,pleasecontactyourcase

worker. If your case worker is not available, ask to speak to one of his/her colleagues

-thereshouldbesomeonenominatedtobeonduty.Ifithappensoutsideofcehours,

you can contact our Out of Hours Service on 01228 526690 for advice.

How do I end my Direct Payments?

FourweeksnoticeisrequiredtoendaDirectPayment.Yourassessmentwillthenbe

reviewed to make sure your needs will still be met by any alternative arrangements that

are put in place.

Your Records

We keep records about our work with people who use our services. This information is

kept to enable us to arrange services for people and to carry out our legal duties. The

Data Protection Act 1998 gives you the right to see information we keep about yourself

whether this is kept on computer or in writing. Please ask your case worker or Customer

Services if you would like to know more.

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

Your compliments, concerns,

comments and complaints

We welcome all feedback about our services. If you have a compliment, concern,

comment or complaint about our services, or a decision or action we have taken

then please let us know about it. You can ask your case worker if you would like to

knowmore.Alternatively,youcancontactyourlocalAdultSocialCareofceandask

Customer Services.

We will try to use the feedback you provide as a way of improving our service to you

and to others.

Anne

Anne Bradshaw

Anne uses direct payments to employ

her own care workers, one of which

is her sister in law. Her care workers

provide her with personal care, provide

transport and help take care of her

dog, Oliver.

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

WherecanIndoutmore?

The Penderels Trust

For information and practical help with Direct Payments, contact your local branch of

the Penerdels Trust.

CumbriaNorthOfce

Carlisle

01228 406352

[email protected]

CumbriaSouthOfce

Barrow

01229 840255

[email protected]

PenderelsTrustMainOfce 08450 500862

[email protected]

You can also visit the Cumbria Direct Payments website at:

The Penderels Trust - www.penderelstrust.org.uk

Carlisle

Civic Centre, Rickergate, Carlisle, CA3 8QG

CarlisleNorth-01228 227033

CarlisleEast-01228 227040

CarlisleWest-01228 221590

[email protected].uk

Eden Friargate, Penrith CA11 7NX

EdenWest(includingKeswick) -

01768 812243/33

EdenSouth-01768 812089/ 812231

EdenNorth-01768 812241/ 53

[email protected].uk

Allerdale

NorthAllerdale-01228 223450

SouthAllerdale-01900 706301

Keswick-01768 812243/ 812233

[email protected].uk

Copeland

Blencathra House, Tangier Street

Whitehaven CA28 7UW

NorthCopeland-01946 506352

SouthCopeland-01946 506269

[email protected].uk

South Lakeland

CountyOfces,KendalLA94RQ

Kendal-01539 713378

SouthLakesEast-01539 713111

SouthLakesWest-01539 713334

[email protected].uk

Barrow-in-Furness 4thFloor,Craven

House,MichaelsonRoad,Barrowin

Furness,LA141FD

FurnessEast-01229 407874

FurnessWest-01229 407446

FurnessNorth-01229 407444

[email protected].uk

Cumbria County Council Adult Social Care Directorate

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

To ask for an assessment of need, contact Customer Services at:

ForhelpandadviceaboutcompletingnancialreturnscontactyourCommunity

FinanceOfcersat:

Carlisle 01228 221803

Eden 01768 812239

Allerdale 01900 706294

Vince Hanlon

Vince, with the help of his brother,

used self directed support to plan his

move into his own at and arrange

the support he needs. He says self

directed support has changed his life

for the better and he is much happier.

Vince

Copeland 01946 506328

South Lakeland 01539 713286

Barrow-in-Furness 01229 407349

Allofcesareopen: 9.00am-5.00pmMondaytoThursday

   9.00am-4.30pmFriday

Please note:donotemailuswithemergencyandurgentmatters;theseshouldbe

telephonedthroughtoyourlocalofce.

Foremergenciesoutsideofcehours,attheweekendorduringbankholidays,the

Out of Hours Service can be contacted on 01228 526690.

YoucanndmoreinformationaboutCumbriaCountyCouncil’sservicesonourwebsite

at cumbria.gov.uk/adultsocialcare

People wishing to make a referral can do this at

cumbria.gov.uk/adultsocialcare/referrals

Cumbria County Council

Direct Payments - Your care, your choice

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Cumbria County Council

CCCJ/N20733

Serving the people of Cumbria cumbria.gov.uk

September 2014