Can I organise my own care and support?

There are a number of options available to you if you wish to organise your own care and support.

Self-directed support is about giving people control of the support they receive and the life they lead. It may be referred to as 'personalisation' or 'personal budgets', but whatever name is given to the scheme the important thing to remember is that it is intended to empower and enable individuals.

You do not have to use this system if you don't want to, and social services can still be fully involved in planning and delivering your support. If you are not receiving help at the moment, you can apply at any time to adult social care.

The scheme operates slightly differently in different areas depending on how each local authority implements it, but this section provides a general overview of how it will work in most places.

There are a number of ways this can be done:

• A personal budget - This refers to money allocated to an individual by the local authority in order to fund their assessed care and support needs
• An individual budget - This combines resources from different funding areas as well as social care funding, such as health care, the Independent Living Fund or Supporting People funding
• A direct payment - This refers to payments made directly to you so you can arrange your own support. They can be in regular instalments or one-off payments
• A personal health budget - This is an allocation of resources made to a person with an established health need (or their immediate representative). They are relatively new and are currently being piloted by the Department of Health

Independent support brokers can find services to meet your needs and help you choose what to purchase.

Our brokerage service can provide one-to-one support to anybody who has care needs.

Brokers are independent, self-employed, and are accredited under the National Brokerage Network. They liaise directly with care providers and offer:

• impartial, person-centred advice
• information about different care providers
• reduced rates on the services providers can offer

Brokers can remove the stress of sourcing and planning your own care whilst at the same time ensuring that you are involved in the decision-making process.

If you have received an assessment from adult social care, you can ask your social worker to make a referral to the brokerage service on your behalf.

If you have any queries or want to discuss the brokerage service, please contact the team:

Call: 01296 382 667

There is currently a fee of £300 (inclusive of VAT) for the brokerage service.

However, as part of this cost you will be supported to look at other benefits or funding streams you may be entitled to. We anticipate that by you accessing more affordable services you will save this fee within a short period of time of receiving care.

There is currently no charge for a broker to find respite or a permanent residential / nursing placement.

We can support individuals who are:

• eligible for funding by the council
• self-funders (have above £23,250 in savings and fund their own care)

If you are not be eligible for funding from the council, you are still entitled to an assessment to identify any social care needs. This assessment may help you identify the level of support you may need and therefore reduce the amount of money spent on additional care that you may not need.

Find out more about how to request an assessment.

For more information, see the 'What is brokerage?' factsheet on the Factsheets page.