Direct Payments
Posted:
Fri May 16, 2008 4:59 pmby deanery
I have been recovering from a severe downturn in my MS & have been offered a Direct payment system for my care....but it is in its infancy & I am nervous about the pitfalls. especially as the OT's & Adult Care Team can't answer some of my questions. They put a Legal contract to me the other day to sign. The contract was 2 years old & from a different County who were going to administer my Account and answer any questions or queries as they occured. Very dodgy setup...
Does anyone have good experiences of Direct Payments and Best Practise etc.
Deanery.
More Information
Posted:
Sat May 17, 2008 11:45 pmby AbleEd
Hi Deanery
We at Able will try and give you the best advice possible but I think we probably need a bit more information about your case.
You can contact me at
editor@ablemagazine.co.uk (as can anyone on the forums) and we'll try and point you in the right direction.
Of course this shouldn't preclude anyone else on the boards who has experience to share.
direct payments
Posted:
Mon Jun 09, 2008 8:04 amby Marion
Hi Deanery,
I manage Herefordshire Centre of Independent Living. We provide support to people using DP's. With sound support they are a really good way of meeting your support needs, as you choose when, by whom and how your support needs are met. Most people prefer to employ their own support workers for these reasons, however you can use an agency if you prefer and pay with your DP.
Local authorities vary in how they implement DP's. It is unusual for a LA not to have a local support scheme, and you can check this by going onto the NCIL website ncil.org.uk. However it is not at all unusual for LA staff to have limited knowledge of how DP's work in practice. Are you the first person to use DP's - can they put you in touch with some who uses them locally to ask about what kind of support you can expect?
To give you an idea we support with:
* understanding the process and admin requirements
* drafting an advert, job description, contract of employment
* support to interview
* Support post employment (induction, training, managing your staff)
We also provide payroll and bookkeeping support.
This may seem a lot to think about but our experience is that once the initial set up work has been done people much prefer DP's to any other form of support. We have a VERY low drop out rate.
Hope this helps. Good luck.
Marion