What are direct payments?
The Direct Payments Regulations allows Health, Housing and Adult Services and Children’s Services
to make cash payments (known as direct payments), to people to enable them to organise and purchase services that they have been assessed as needing instead of receiving services arranged by the council.
In accessing direct payments you have more options, choice and control over how your social care needs are met. You decide when your assessed social care needs will be met, by whom, and at a time that is best for you. You are in control.
Those individuals who have/accessed direct payments have found it a positive experience as it has given them a greater choice on how their care needs are met and it has enabled them to carry on living independently.
Do I qualify for Direct Payments?
Most adults who are assessed as having social care needs under the council’s ‘Fair Access to Care Services Eligibility Criteria’ may receive direct payments. This includes anyone with a physical or sensory impairment, people with learning disabilities, older people, people who have certain illnesses such as HIV and people who experience mental ill health.
In addition, carers aged 16 or over who provide substantial care for a person aged 18 or over can have a direct payment in their own right to meet their own assessed social care needs.
Information Available to You
Health, Housing and Adult Services has produced a number of direct payments guidance
notes in relation to the services and/or support you may be assessed as needing. The
guidance notes that are available to you are shown below and beside each one you can link into a window to access a copy of the required
guidance notes.
What support is available to you?
We are keen to ensure that any support needs you may have in accessing direct payments are met. We have therefore made available two main areas of support, namely the
Direct Payments Section and Go Direct, Direct Payments Support Service.
Our Direct Payments Section will provide you with advice, information, practical help and support if you are interested in accessing and/or go onto access direct payments. The
Direct Payments Section contact details are shown below:
Direct
Payments Section
Business Improvement and Advice Services
Health, Housing and Adult Services
15-16 John Street
Sunderland
SR1 1ED
Telephone number: 0191 – 5661887 or 0191 - 5661825.
E-mail address: direct.payments@sunderland.gov.uk
We have established a Direct Payments Support Service called Go Direct. Go Direct offers a free, comprehensive support service to people who wish to use direct payments to employ Personal Assistants. It offers advice, information and practical support on many aspects of being an employer. This support covers areas such as recruitment and selection, job descriptions and contracts, managing staff and health and safety issues. Go Direct also provides a free payroll service to those people who access direct payments to employ Personal Assistants.
Go Direct’s contact details are as follows:
Go Direct,
Direct Payments Support Service,
C/o Age Concern Sunderland,
Bradbury Centre,
Stockton Road,
Sunderland,
SR2 7AQ.
Telephone number: 0191 – 514 1131
E-mail address: directpayments@acsunderland.org.uk
User\Peer Support Group
The Adult Services User/Peer Support Group has been in place since March 2005. The
group meets bi-monthly to have a coffee and a chat about the different aspects of direct payments.
The aim of the group is to work with and support users of direct payments and contribute towards raising the profile of the Adult Services Direct Payments Scheme in Sunderland. You have the opportunity to speaking to someone who can share their experiences of direct payments.
The User/Peer Support Group produces an Information Update twice a year, which provides news and information about direct payments and personal accounts of service users experience. Information Updates that have been produced to-date are shown below; you can link into a window to access the update you wish to read.
Information Update
- Winter 2006 (
pdf 215 kb)
Information
Update - Summer 2007(
pdf 67 kb)
Information Update - Winter 2007 (
pdf 104kb)
Information Update - Summer 2008 (
pdf 133kb)
Frequently Asked Questions
We have put together a list of frequently asked questions fact sheet about direct payments together with their answers. You can link into the window below to access the list.
Frequently asked questions and answers fact sheet (
pdf 130 kb)
If you are interested in accessing direct payments what do you need to do next?
If you have been assessed as needing a service/support and are receiving services arranged by
Health, Housing and Adult Services on your behalf and you are interested in accessing direct payments you should discuss it with your social worker in the first instance.
If you are not receiving a service and you feel that you have care or support needs you need to arrange for a social worker to meet with you. The social worker will carry out an assessment of your care/support needs and will let you know if you are eligible to receive a service from
Health, Housing and Adult Services. If you are, then you have the option to access the Direct Payments Scheme. You can link into the under mentioned window to find out who you need to contact:
Contact us |
