Arranging your own social care service using direct payments or personal payments

The important word here is CHOICE. With choice you control the quality of your life. What time you get up, what time you go to bed, what time you eat, and all these decisions are your choice.

Greenway Homecare is a family run home care agency providing a more traditional approach to home help services for the elderly and infirm. Quality respite and home care through direct payment. As a homecare agency we fully understand your right to have Choice and fully support care packages purchased with Direct Payments or Personal Payments.

The Care Act 2014 gives greater emphasis on Personal Budgets which give people the power to spend allocated money on tailored care that suits their individual needs as part of their support plan.

To have choice you also need to make decisions. So how do you get to make these decisions?

DIRECT PAYMENTS

If you have been assessed by Social Services and you have a Care Plan that says you are eligible to receive Social Services funding for home help or home care then it is your right to choose how you want your care provided. If you prefer to arrange the services for yourself, rather than the Social Services arranging the services for you, this can be done through Direct Payments.

So what are Direct Payments / Personal Budgets?

Direct payments or Personal Budgets are where money is paid directly to you. These funds are then used so that you can choose and arrange your own home help and home care. Direct Payments put you in charge of where and whom you get your care from, so just like you choose where you do your shopping or where you have hair styled, now you choose who provides your homecare. It does not need to be the agency that Social Services use, you can choose any agency as long as it is registered with the Care Quality Commission.

So no more missed calls, no more late appointments, no more telling you when you have to get up or go bed. Choosing the correct agency to suit your own homecare needs will give you back your independence and more importantly, it will be your choice.

Direct Payments gives you the choice to control the type of home help and support you need and when you want it, whether this is extra assistance with walking your dog or assistance to attend appointments or social gatherings or even a short break.

So what next?

Greenway Homecare is a homecare agency covering Surrey that understands and supports Social Services Direct Payment and Personal payments. If you want more choice and a better quality of life speak to you Social Services Case Manager and ask for information on Direct Payments.

A link to Surrey County Council on Arranging your own adult social care support using direct payments can be found HERE.