Right, for those who- like me- are new to the whole care system and social workers, I thought it would be good to share what I have discovered to date.
1. If you are chronically ill and/or disabled, you can contact your local social services team for a care assessment. Anyone who cares for you can also request a carer assessment.
The purpose of these assessments is to discuss what your needs are.
Your needs are assessed using The care Act (2014). There are areas of need clearly listed in the act, and the assessor should go through these in turn with you to identify which areas you need assistance with.
Then they write this all down formally in your care assessment report.
2. If there are needs identified on the care assessment report that are not already being met, social care has to meet those needs.
This is where things got sticky for me. Not only did my social worker ignore my care assessment report, she also disputed all of my care needs (and is still doing so). But that is another story.
If you have someone living with you, or a friend who is happy to continue assisting you to meet any of the needs identified, then social care don't have to meet those needs.
3. Once social care have decided what needs they think they need to meet, this will be split into services required to meet said needs. For example, you might need a carer twice a day, have a personal assistant three times a week to take you out and go to a local day care centre twice a week. The social care department will work out the cheapest possible way of all of these being paid and the total amount that it will cost is called your Personal Budget.
4. If you are happy for social care to use their own choice of carers, their own option for a day care centre and to find you a personal assistant, all at bottom cost, then your personal budget will be managed by the council. However, if you want to have more choice (as per the care act) over your own care, then you can ask for all or part of your personal budget to be paid into a bank account for you. This is then called Direct Payments. The purpose of Direct Payments is to allow people to have more say over their own care. The carers, day centre and personal assistant would then be paid from the bank account the direct payment was in.
5. Be prepared to fight. And fight. And fight. If you don't, they will try to get away with as little assistance as possible for you and will dodge the care act by 'reassessing' you and 'reviewing' you as and when they feel like it. Your personal budget is not set in stone. If your needs change, if you haven't been listened to, let them know.
6. Don't be afraid to follow your council's complaint procedure if you are not satisfied with the level of care you are receiving from your social worker.
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