You Have a Choice: Choosing Your Home Care Provider with Direct Payments

Introduction
If you are receiving home care that is funded wholly or partially through social services you have a right to choose your home care provider. There is nothing wrong with allowing social services to set up everything for you. However, you may feel that you want the independence and autonomy that comes with choosing your own provider.

Direct Payments
If you want to choose your own provider the first thing to do is ask for a direct payment. If you have qualified for social services funding, you will have been allocated a personal budget. Having a direct payment means that your personal budget is paid directly to you. This allows you to deal directly with the home care provider of your choice. For more information about direct payments, go to this article.

With a small number of exceptions, you have a right to a direct payment. 

The law is very clear about this. With a small number of exceptions, you have a right to a direct payment. Section 31 of the Care Act 2014 says that if you request a direct payment, the Local Authority to which the request is made “must” make the payment to you. In an Act of Parliament, the word “must” used in this context means that a duty is imposed on a body or bodies, in this case Local Authorities. Where there is a duty imposed on a body there is usually a right granted to another allowing enforcement of that duty. In this case you have the right to a direct payment that is enforceable against the Local Authority.

Choosing Your Home Care Provider
Once you have a direct payment, you can go about choosing your home care provider. You cannot use you direct payment for just anything. It must be used to pay for goods and services that meet your care needs. You can, however, choose your home care provider. The people who carry out your care needs assessment and financial assessment  may wish to advise you about providers ans they may suggest that you go with one of the Local Authority providers: but the choice is yours. 

There is plenty of information available about home care providers in your area. A very useful website is www.homecare.co.uk. This site has a search facility that allows you to type in your postcode and it will return home care providers within a chosen distance of that post code.

The people who carry out your care needs assessment and financial assessment  may wish to advise you about providers, they may suggest that you go with one of the Local Authority providers: but the choice is yours. 

I have written quite extensively about choosing home care providers. You will find this article very helpful.  If you are looking for live-in care, take a look at this article.

To Summarise...
...very simply: you have a choice.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.