Direct Payments

1
Direct Payments

• Sarah Newton and Deborah Knapp
• Westminster City Council Adult Services
  Department

2
What are Direct Payments?

• Cash payments made instead of service provision
• Service user arranges their own care
• Service user becomes the employer
• Service user is in control

3
Who can get Direct Payments?

• Older people
• People with a physical disability
• People with a learning disability
• People with mental health problems
• Parents/carers of children with a disability
• People with a substance misuse problems
• People with HIV/Aids
• Carers

4
Who cant get Direct Payments

• People without capacity
• People subject to some mental health and criminal
  legislation

5
How does it work?

• Support available from Penderels Trust and Age
  Concern Westminster
• Users given money to meet their care needs
• Users arrange their own care
• Users manage the finances and paperwork

6
What can Direct Payments be used for?

• Home Care
• Day Care
• Relief care/respite care
• Equipment

7
What Cant you use Direct Payments for?

• Purchasing Council services
• Purchasing care or equipment that is the Health
  Authority's responsibility to provide
• Long term residential care

8
Pros and Cons

• More continuity of care
• Flexible care to meet needs
• Works well for ethnic minority groups
• Can be used to pay family members

• Being an employer
• Finding Carers
• Rates of pay

9
Benefits of Direct Payments

• People are happier on Direct Payments
• More choice
• More independence
• User is in charge

10
The Future

• Direct Payments becoming a way of life
• Individualised Budgets currently a pilot until
  2008, likely to be introduced nationally after
  this.
• Increasing control back to service users
• Independent living

11

• ANY QUESTIONS
• ?