Personal health budget over a notional one? 18 September 2022 at 9:48AM edited 18 September 2022 at 11:19AM in Disability money matters 3 replies 191 views

chris112

I recently returned from hospital and now require 24 hour care with incalls and I've been offered a personal health budget (direct payments)  and am I right in thinking it would just be me doing all the admin/leg work for the council/care company 

or does it give me the flexibility to say reduce the amount of care and use that money elsewhere ?

If not what are the benefits of having this budget rather than the notional one ?
As from what I have read it seems like once I have this budget that I am responsible for all of the care admin such as, hiring staff, sick/holiday pay, dbs checks, etc
it seems odd why the council would give such responsibility to the patient for no reward opposed to the council doing everything for me

poppy12345

chris112 said:

or does it give me the flexibility to say reduce the amount of care and use that money elsewhere ?

No, the money for your personal budget has to be used on what it states in your care plan. You can't just use it on anything you want to, it doesn't work like that.

You can either manage it yourself or your LA can do that for you. If you decide to manage it yourself then you will be responsible for paying for the care you receive, as well as anything else involved, such as payslips, paying the company or person that does the care, holiday pay/sick pay, your employees contract, insurance in your home and paying tax and NI etc etc.

You will be given a seperate bank account set up by your LA and they will then add the money into this each month. You will have access to this, as well as them. You will need to keep payslips, receipts etc etc because they will ask for them at the end of each tax year.

There are payroll companies out their that will manage things like DBS checks, payslips, paying HMRC tax/NI for the etc etc. Your LA should explain all of your options to you. They did with me when i managed by daughters personal budget and i then paid a payroll company to take most of the stress away from me. They sent me payslips and told me each month what i had to pay HMRC and what i had to pay for the support she received.

There's some information here. https://www.idealforall.co.uk/Direct-Payments

elsien

It gives you more flexibility theoretically to buy your own services as opposed to using those provided by the NHS. So as long as the money is used for the needs identified in the plan you can choose which provider gives the service.

Cyclamen

Notional budget - the council organise who comes into your home, what tey do.. they ahve say.  They will put your file out for tender and pick an agency/care provider that way.  You will get some say on who comes in but often its a case of take it or leave it.  

Personal health budget- you choose who to employ.. be careful its hard to recruit at the moment... you can use the phb to pick an agency (not all will be in budget) or employ your own teams.  there will be support.. employers insurance and legal support, payroll company, (they can even hold the bank account) etc.. But the crucial bit for many of us is we choose who comes into our homes, we choose the tasks and what is done, we have final say. 

But yes it is more work

i've been in the 'system' almost 13 years and had some amazing agency carers but also some 'not so good' experiences and find that for me choosing my own carers is far better for living the life i want