2779 Arranging your care

If you find it difficult to carry out your daily activities, you may be eligible for care or support. So that we can find out whether we can help, we need to carry out something called an assessment. Following the assessment, we will let you know if you have needs that can we can meet. We call these “eligible needs” and we will agree with you how your care needs can best be met. There are three main options: Firstly, you may want to make your own arrangements for your care. If this is the case, you may be able to have a Direct Payment from us which you can use to purchase the care services you need. If you receive a Direct Payment, you will need to demonstrate that this is being spent on the outcomes identified within your care plan, but it does give you greater flexibility over how you can achieve them. There are a couple of other points to bear in mind. Depending on how you use your Direct Payment, you may become the employer of the person who cares for you, so you need to be clear about what this will mean for you. We can help you to understand this. It is also possible for your unpaid carer to receive a Direct Payment in certain circumstances; please ask us for more details. Secondly, we can arrange the care you need. Your care may not be provided by us, but by a one of our partner organisations. We will discuss the choices available to you when we develop your care plan. Lastly, you may chose to spend more than allowed for in your personal budget. If you do, we will not provide more funding, but you may be able to make an additional payment – this is called a ‘top up’. We will discuss all of your options with you when we talk to you about your care plan, but if you would like some more information, please ask.