Self-Directed Assessment Form

tsimehC

This form was given to my dad by a social worker to complete by the end of next week (was at work and couldn't make out what the social worker was saying on the phone). Apparently, there is a change of law on social care and he will have to employ a carer directly. I'm not sure this is the best option as he gets 2 visits from a local care agency worker twice in a day. This is fine and I feel this does not need to change but the social worker talked something about "personal budget" to him.

Really confused here, I don't have contact details for this social worker as he never had one since he got discharged from hospital and out-of-the-blue, this one turns up to give a form which looks very much like the DLA form (he is on high mobility rate). Can anyone point me to the suitable direction on what to do (apart from calling CAB - I'll do that if required).

Thanks for any advice.

Gold_Man

Hello,

I was recently involved in investigating this sort of thing at a local day care center. I am still researching the legality and real intention behind these changes, but the bottom line is that everyone appears to be confused.

The best course of action would be to contact your local Welfare Rights centre. You could also find a good Disabled persons support group or advocacy group and they can advise you. There are often multiple routes of support and the one being offered is not necessarily the correct or even the only one.

idvi

is this direct payments?

tsimehC

idvi wrote: »

is this direct payments?

Yes, the "personal budget" part of it is but direct payments were never a compulsory part of the care plan before but they appear to be now...

over_flo

I've recently been to a training event about personal budgets as it seems it is to be extended to childrens services too.
I understand that the idea is to give flexibility - you get your pot of money and can use it however would suit your needs best - agency,direct employment or finding someone self employed or maybe buying daycenter sessions or overnight respite
It depends on your individual needs - if a cleaner or gardener would best meet your needs you can use it for that.
In you're Dad's case,in theory he should be able to continue with the agency but pay them directly from his account.

I'm amazed that you've just been handed a form to fill in though - I'm not surprised you're confused.

We're all understandably wary though in this atmosphere of cuts - wondering if it's another way to cut our care.

laura7_2

Hello, Self Directed support means that people will get an individual budget based on their needs, which will be worked out form what the social worker ticks in the boxes based on various questions e.g how many times a day do you need suport with personal care. The form you have been sent is for the person to fill out, if they can, or for someone to fill out for them. When the budget is worked out, the person should be able to choose how there care is delivered, e.g they could employ a carer, but they should be able to continue as they are and the social worker can continue to organise the care (managed budget). There does not seem much difference between this system and the old system really but has cost a lot of money setting it up, and is much slower! Hope this helps- I would just say that you want the care to be delivered in the same way

tsimehC

laura7 wrote: »

Hello, Self Directed support means that people will get an individual budget based on their needs, which will be worked out form what the social worker ticks in the boxes based on various questions e.g how many times a day do you need suport with personal care. The form you have been sent is for the person to fill out, if they can, or for someone to fill out for them. When the budget is worked out, the person should be able to choose how there care is delivered, e.g they could employ a carer, but they should be able to continue as they are and the social worker can continue to organise the care (managed budget). There does not seem much difference between this system and the old system really but has cost a lot of money setting it up, and is much slower! Hope this helps- I would just say that you want the care to be delivered in the same way

Hiya, thanks for the info. There was no option of taking the "carry on as usual" when the social worker gave the form. I guess I'll ask him that question when he turns up next week. It's unbelievable that this new system is costing more money but that's the way the government likes it I guess.

laura7_2

Yes you would have thought they would try and save money by not overhauling a social work system that isn't working too badly anyway. They have spent so much on retraining, new paperwork etc. The new system may give more opportunity to spend money on what the person wants if this is different to traditional services, but this could have been done without a whole new assessment process surely! I think a lot of people do not want to be bothered with sorting out there own care, they want someone to do this for them so they can get on with the other aspects of there life, and they are entitiled to this. There is no more money to spend anyway so not really able to give people more choice if its more expensive. It lets people down and does not amke any sense in this terrible financial situation we are in! Its all about looking like people are gtting more choice. The whole process takes so long to complete- Social workers will be able to see less people, which will save money (and also leave people at risk), maybe this was the idea! Hope you maange to get the care to stay the same, best of luck.

daska

Oh yes, the joys of a personal budget... 16 months down the line from first being assessed here are the pros and cons:

Will you get the money? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the Finance department and whether you're prepared to shout loudly at everyone you can get hold of, including but not limited to your local Councillor, MP, Key Worker and any other person in authority who you can get to by phone or letter. It took 3 months for Finance to start paying after SS had completed the assessment.

Will you get the amount promised? Maybe, maybe not. For some reason Finance slashed my budget by 75% 8 weeks before the end of the year, and then they stopped paying it completely. 7 weeks down the line and I still haven't managed to get an iota of sense out of the Council. I'm very close to having to make my carer's redundant - and they won't get a pay off because there isn't any money left.

How much paperwork is there? Well, that depends on who you employ. It's very difficult to justify 'self-employed' status to HMRC for a carer who does a regular shift so your choice is to use an agency (costly) or employ someone personally which means you're responsible for calculating and paying NI/Tax, holiday, SSP etc. Cheaper per hour but if you can't do the paperwork look out for the extra charges.

Will SS manage it for you? Not on your nelly mate. They don't want the hassle of having to check timesheets or take responsibility for paying the HMRC. And once you've moved to a personal budget you can't move back to traditional services.

Cynical? Yes, very, and for good reason.