Financing Your Care
What is a Personal Health Budget?
Adult Social Care (ASC)
Primary Care Trust (PCT) Continuing Care Funds (eligibility permitting)
The person may choose to take all of the money as a Direct Payment to purchase services themselves, or have adult social care manage the budget on their behalf.
The advantage is that the person can choose to buy / do things that are not normally provided by adult social care. This may mean they get more involved in their community activities and ‘services’.
What is the process to get a Personal Budget?
The person must:
- meet ASC eligibility criteria
- complete a self assessment
- have an assessment with their Social Worker
- create an Indicative budget (based on Resource Allocation System)
- produce a Support plan (Adult Social Care then have to sign off the Support Plan)
- implement the Support Plan. What are the benefits of a Personal Budget?
- more flexibility than a Direct Payment (DP)
- lighter touch monitoring
- like for like changes
Here are some examples of how other people have used a Personal Budget:
- Horse riding
- Walking equipment
- Theatre group
- Agency PA support
- Music club
- Entrance costs e.g. Halo Leisure
- Singing lessons
- College fees
- Employing own staff
- Holiday (‘short break’ for carer)
What is a Support Plan?
A Support Plan describes what a person wants to change about their life and how they will use their Personal Budget to make these changes happen.
The Local Authority has to agree that your support plan will meet your assessed needs and your plan should answer these questions:
What is important to you?
What do you want to change?
How will you arrange your support?
How will you spend your money?
How will you manage your support?
How will you stay in control?
What will you do next?
Services for Independent Living can provide support planning as a purchased service. For more information go to our direct payment services for more information.
Services for Independent Living can also provide support for managing a Personal Health Budget (PHB). PHBs are awarded by the NHS Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and are currently offered to anyone receiving NHS continuing healthcare but do not need to be in hospital. At the centre of your PHB is your care plan, which helps you decide your health and wellbeing goals, together with the local NHS team who support you, and set out how your budget will be spent to enable you to reach them and keep healthy and safe.
For more information about PHBs contact Herefordshire CCG, 01432 383822.
What are Direct Payments?
Direct Payments are payments of cash made by a Local Authority or the NHS to disabled and older people and family carers. These are a way of you meeting your own support needs instead of the Local Authority or the NHS providing services to you. You need to have an assessment carried out by a Local Authority social worker or an NHS continuing care nurse. The assessment will show whether you are eligible for a Direct Payment and what you can use it for.
Who can get a Direct Payment?
- Older people
- People with learning disabilities
- People using mental health services
- People with physical disabilities and sensory impairment
- Informal and family carers
- Children and families
- Parents of disabled children
- Young carers aged 16 and over
- People with HIV and AIDS
- An appointed suitable person
What can Direct Payments be used for?
To employ a Personal Assistant who can support you with personal and domestic tasks, personal care, some elements of healthcare, accessing social and leisure activities, getting to work and parenting tasks
To pay for accommodation to go on a short break or to pay for a Personal Assistant to support you. Alternatively to pay for support to enable you to stay at home while your informal carer (e.g. spouse) takes a break
To enable you to purchase and participate in activities such as swimming or horse riding
To purchase support from a Care Agency
N.B. Direct payments cannot be used for urgent or acute (hospital) healthcare, GP services, housing services such as paying rent or to buy Local Authority services such as home care or daycare.
Are you eligible to use Direct Payments?
If you or the person you are caring for has been assessed by the Local Authority or NHS as needing social care services, you may be able to have some of these services paid to you as a Direct Payment. An assessment is a discussion with you about your needs and involves gathering information from people who know you well such as a carer, family member, doctor or community nurse. You will be fully involved with your assessment and will have the opportunity to make your views known.
There are specific criteria that will be considered in the assessment of your needs to identify whether you are eligible for a service or Direct Payment from the county council or the NHS.
NB: If you are assessed as needing NHS Continuing Health Care you have the right to ask for a Direct Payment. SIL works closely with the Integrated Care Board (ICB) to ensure you can receive the support services you need should you choose to employ your own support staff.
Click here to see the range of services to support people using Direct Payments.