Direct Payments

gillianw

Registered User
May 17, 2008
17
0
Hi All

Do any of you use Direct Payments for any help that you receive.
My mam gets abit of support from our local council (pill prompts)which she pays for out of her pension.

The pill people are now suppose to stay 1/2 hour in the morning to prompt with pills and breakfast not all of them stay that long most being 10 minuits but mam has to pay for 1/2 hour , I do know thay have a few people on the same morning but thay should really stay for the 1/2 hour. As for all thay visit,

Iv been told abit about Direct Payments which you find your own care people and set out a plan of care Im thinking this might be a bit more personal for my mam. I think the council might pay some towards it and my mam pays the rest.

What do you think.
Gillianw
 

christine_batch

Registered User
Jul 31, 2007
3,387
0
Buckinghamshire
Dear Gillian,
My husband received Direct Payments from the L.A.
When they accessed how many hours per week that was sent to the payment department and a monthly cheque would be paid into a seperate account.
I had the power to go to an Agency and select the right Staff for Peter.
There was a lot of book-keeping but if any help was needed at the end of the quarterly account, I could always count on the L.A. to send someone to help out.
Now Peter is in E.M.I. Unit and in last stage.
During the Direct Payment period, I did not have to pay any top off fees and the Agency I used were brilliant.
Wishing you all the best
Christine
 

heartbroken

Registered User
Feb 17, 2008
747
0
derbyshire
Hi
my step mum gets direct payments to pay me to go in 21 hours a week I help my dad to do the paper work and the time sheets get sent to a agency to work out tax etc, the sw sorted it out for us to recieve it, we find it very good as she wouldnt accept anyone esle to help.
 

lesmisralbles

Account Closed
Nov 23, 2007
5,543
0
Christine

Please see my post "Too Many cook's"
I need help re direct payment's, it is a minefield:(
Barb & Ron XX
 

Margarita

Registered User
Feb 17, 2006
10,824
0
london
As I am going back to work part time My mother social worker going on about direct payment , she says she going to talk to me about it when she visit on Friday.

Then someone else comes around talk more about it .

That all I need more paper work and the time sheets , no thanks I rather leave it all up to the social worker .

I never even mention it , they never offer it to me while I was not working. so why now I wonder .

I think the council might pay some towards it and my mam pays the rest.

I think paying toward it must be mean tested .

Ring your mother social worker tell her you want it for your mother
 

heartbroken

Registered User
Feb 17, 2008
747
0
derbyshire
they will asses her and say how many hours aweek is needed that is the amount of money they give you to pay for it if you want more hours then you have to pay it.
I don't think its means tested dad was given it without saying about how much he had etc.
you can get a agency to do the paper work for you at a small charge its worth looking into
 

bclark

Registered User
Feb 15, 2008
68
0
greenhithe kent
respite

dear gilian, i use direct payments to pay someone while i have respite it was means tested to see if you had to contribute anything i did not have to. if alan was looked after at a residential place i had to contribute a little i am gradualy getting the hang of it. i have 2 weeks payed into every 6months into an account which is only used for diract payments i have yearly review. the hardest thing about it is finding someone to help with the repite my daughter and a freind help agency fees can be to high, but so glad i stayed with it.:)
 

heartbroken

Registered User
Feb 17, 2008
747
0
derbyshire
Different areas must do it differently as dad get it for someone to go in 21 hours a week to give him help and it was deffantly not means tested plus the sw is talking about it being increased so he can have someone go in at night to get her to bed.
 

Bristolbelle

Registered User
Aug 18, 2006
1,847
0
Bristol
My daughter

although her needs are different she was assessed as needing 6 hours per week support form a personal assistant. they said direct payments would be the best way to proceed, we were not even offered the option of using social services own reserves. The council arranged for the job to be advertised - there were very few respondents none suitable. Ultimately they then had the cheek to ask my daughter to foot the bill for the job advertisement which we were told was over 400pounds! She said she could not afford this and then they had to get her social worker to ask the council to pay for the advert, who then sent her the money via the account she had had to open to receive any money fornm the council. the paper had sent their invoice to the council who then had to send it to my daughter and in fact it was for just over 200pounds not 400 as we had been told. Now she has been told that she must send a cheque to the paper for the advert, and a cheque for the refund of the overpayment back to the council. This has caused her a lot of confusion and anxiety she still has no help, has a useless bank account she didn;t want to start with and they are not going to readvertise the post unless she pays the next round of advertisement fees. Oh the whole Direct payment thing was handled by some quango that has a contract with the council to pay direct payments so you can bet someone is getting fat on passing the buck!
My daughter has decided that is better to cope alone. Academically and mentally she is fairly competent and understands a lot of the things that she was required to do,though she hated interviewing the applicants for the post - there were three one did not turn up, one could not speak English, and the third was not allowed to take the job on as it would interfere with her studies.
Sorry to me Direct payments seems like a scheme to allow councils to shirk their responsibilities and add confusion to the user so a lot of us give up seeking help and support to which we are entitled.