HomeCare Direct

Frequently Asked Questions

Is HomeCareDirect available in my area?

How much money will I receive from my Local Council to pay for my own care at home through the HomeCareDirect System?

What is the Direct Payments Hourly Rate Paid by my Local Council?

What is the maximum per week which my Local Authority will pay towards my care-at-home?

What are Direct Payments?

What can I do with Direct Payments?

Who can receive Direct Payments?

The Government has extended the Direct Payment scheme, which now includes what?

How does the Direct Payment Scheme work?

How is the money sorted out?

What sort of help can HomeCareDirect give with Direct Payments?

How can HomeCareDirect keep a person more safe at home?

Can I use the HomeCareDirect system for keeping me safe at home as an alternative to going into a residential or nursing home?

How do I contact HomeCareDirect?

What happens when I contact HomeCareDirect?

What happens if I decide to accept HomeCareDirect?

What happens if I do not know any local people, friends or family who I want to provide my care?

What happens if no care staff can be located?

Can I pay privately if I want more care than has been assessed by my social worker?

Can I use HomeCareDirect if I am not on Direct Payments?

Would I be able to move from a residential or nursing home, and back into my own home if I use the HomeCareDirect System?

I am in receipt of a compensation payment following an accident. Can I use the HomeCareDirect System to organise my care at home?

Is HomeCareDirect available in my area?

HomeCareDirect aims to be available as a national support service throughout the United Kingdom before or by December 2005.

From July 2004 the service is available in the north midlands and specifically in and around :- Staffordshire, Manchester, Birmingham, Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

Should anyone outside these initial areas however express an interest in considering the HomeCareDirect service, then they are encouraged to contact HomeCareDirect to ask for the latest service availability in their area. HomeCareDirect will seek to accommodate such enquiries.

How much money will I receive from my Local Council to pay for my own care at home through the HomeCareDirect System?

If the social worker assesses that a person is not entitled to care funded by the Council then no funding from the Local Authority will be available through the HomeCareDirect system.

A person is only entitled to be offered a 'Direct Payment' by the local Council following a successful 'Care Needs Assessment' by their social worker.

Following a successful 'Care Needs Assessment' the social worker will indicate the number of hours of care per week, for which the Council will pay for an individual person.

It is this 'assessed number of hours of care need per week', which is used to determine the amount of funding available under 'direct payments'. The Local Authority will multiply this 'assessed number of hours of care need' by an hourly rate.

What is the Direct Payments Hourly Rate Paid by my Local Council?

You will have to ask your local council social worker or 'Direct Payments Officer' because the rate varies between Local Authorities.

The Government Guidance says that the 'direct payments' rate per hour should be sufficient to enable people to have choice over which service they wish to choose to provide their care. This would indicate that the rate per hour should therefore be sufficient to enable a person to choose one of the local private care agencies to provide their care - if that was the choice of the individual. This would tend to indicate that the rate per hour could be around £9.00/hr to £14.00/hr. Some Local Authorities however have 'Home Care Contribution Rates' which is an hourly rate which some clients are expected to pay towards their own home care at home.

Please check with your local Council for local 'direct payments' rates per hour.

What is the maximum per week which my Local Authority will pay towards my care-at-home?

In theory there is no limit to which the Local Authority will pay towards a person receiving care and support at home but in practice artificial limits do come into play. The rules are slightly different for different categories of people mainly related to whether the needs of an individual person can be satisfactorily met by care in a nursing or residential home.

For younger people

It is considered very appropriate where possible for particularly younger people to receive care and support at home, even though their assessed needs could potentially be met in a nursing or residential home.

As such it would normally be the first choice of the social worker to keep particularly younger people at home, and there's often no limit to such a cost. Some Local Authorities however do have different rules and people should check with their Local Authority for exact details.

For younger people with high care needs the funding is often shared between the Local Authority and the 'Independent Living Fund'. You should talk to your local social worker about whether you could apply to the independent living fund for additional funds for your care at home.

For people above retirement age

Where the Local Authority considers that a persons assessed care needs are such that a person could warrant placement in a residential or nursing home, then that option may be offered by the Local Authority to an individual.

Should however a person not wish to go into a residential or nursing home then this should be discussed with the social worker, who has the option to offer a person the equivalent funding (called a Direct Payment) for care at home.

If it was therefore costing the Local Authority £400 per week to place an individual person in a residential or nursing home, then this £400 per week should normally be made available for the client to receive care at home.

The question for the Local Authority and for the person and the family is to whether this £400 per week would keep the person safe in their own home. The HomeCareDirect system would seek to do this. Any additional need for care at home could be funded privately by the client and/or their family.

What are Direct Payments?

Direct Payments are monies paid by the Local Authority directly to people who have been assessed as needing care at home, to enable that person to organise their own home care, as an alternative to care organised by the Local Authority.

The cash payment via Direct Payments must be used to arrange services to meet the individuals care need as assessed by the social worker.

What can I do with Direct Payments?

Direct Payments give youl more choice and control in the way their care is provided.

You can:

Decided how your care needs will be met.

Arrange the care visits at the times that suit you.

Decide who you would like to provide your care at home. This can be from professional carers, friends and people previously known to you and your family (though not usually living in the same house as you).

Decide to employ your own personal carers directly, or employ a care agency to provide your care.

Choose to use the HomeCareDirect System to provide your care at home which leaves you free to choose and organise the carers you want, but HomeCareDirect takes on the legal and administrative responsibilities.

Who can receive Direct Payments?

The law was changed in 2003 so that almost everyone who is in receipt of a 'Care Needs Assessment' by a social worker, is now legally entitled to receive a direct payment as an alternative to care organised by the Local Authority.

Part of the process of a social worker offering a person a direct payment, is whether that person will be safe and capable of managing a direct payment.

HomeCareDirect will make it much easier and more safe for clients to accept a direct payment which should give social workers confidence to offer a direct payment to almost all people in need of care at home.

The Government has extended the Direct Payment scheme, who is now included?

Almost everyone in need of care at home can now be offered a direct payment. This includes: -

Elderly adults.

People with a physical disability.

People with a learning disability.

People with mental health difficulties.

Carers aged 16+ for services to meet their own needs.

Persons with parental responsibility for disabled children for services to the family.

16 & 17 year old disabled children for services that meet their own assessed needs.

How does the Direct Payment Scheme work?

First, an assessment of needs has to be made by a social worker .

A Social Care Assessor will help the individual decide on the services they require.

The individual then organises their own care.

How is the money sorted out?

The amount of Direct Payment paid depends on the services the individual is assessed as requiring.

Social Services will pay a rate per hour based on the number of hours of need identified in the care plan.

Payments will be made into the individual's Direct Payment account each month.

What sort of help can HomeCareDirect give with Direct Payments?

HomeCareDirect makes it very easy for people to take up Direct payments by: -

Helping clients to identify and choose people who they wish to provide their care at home.

Act as the legal employer of personal carers selected by the client.

Arrange monthly payment of personal carers directly from the clients account to the personal carers account, after deducting P.A.Y.E and NI.

Arrange the training for the personal carers to meet the care needs of the client.

Help keep the client safe at home by the use of the HomeCareDirect support box in the home of every client which rings up if a personal carer is late of fails to arrive.

How can HomeCareDirect keep a person more safe at home?

The aim of HomeCareDirect is to keep both young and older people safe at home for as long as possible and to help avoid nursing or residential home placements for the older client.

HomeCareDirect uses the latest technology to support a person in their own home and then to alert local family, friends and the local community if a person requires immediate help.

The HomeCareDirect system monitors a personal carers arrival, their departure time and length of visit, and the HomeCareDirect support box in the home of every client rings up if a personal carer is late or fails to arrive.

Can I use the HomeCareDirect system for keeping me safe at home as an alternative to going into a residential or nursing home?

The HomeCareDirect system has been developed specifically to enable people to remain in their own home for longer.

The HomeCareDirect system has been developed to give clients and their families increased confidence that a person will be safer for longer in their own home.

How do I contact HomeCareDirect?

HomeCareDirect can be contacted directly by your social worker following an assessment of care need. The social worker can ask for a visit by the HomeCareDirect case manager to your home.

HomeCareDirect can also be contacted by you or your family directly. You should ask for the HomeCareDirect case manager to visit to discuss the possibility of using HomeCareDirect to remain at home.

Tel - 0845 061 9000

Or look at the 'contact us' section in www.homecare-direct.co.uk

What happens when I contact HomeCareDirect?

The HomeCareDirect support office will take down your initial details and discuss your initial enquiry. You can then be either put through to speak directly to your local HomeCareDirect case manager , or arrangements will be made for the HomeCareDirect case manager to telephone you back.

The HomeCareDirect case manager will speak to you and if appropriate will make arrangements to visit you in your own home at a time convenient to you and to the local case manager and to your family where appropriate. It is often possible to make visit outside what would be considered normal working hours.

At this first visit of the HomeCareDirect case manager there is no obligation to go any further if that is your wish.

What happens if I decide to accept HomeCareDirect?

The HomeCareDirect case manager will fully assist with the commencement of your care at home.

This will include:

Supporting you and your family to identify who you consider locally could perhaps provide your care and support at home. This could be from family, friends and people locally known to you (though not usually living in the same house) please see Why HCD?

Help with seeking to identify local professional carers who may be able to help with your care.

HomeCareDirect will ensure your care staff are trained to meet your individual needs.

The HomeCareDirect case manager will do a very detailed care plan with your help. A written copy will be left in your home for your personal carers to refer to.

The HomeCareDirect case manager will also talk specifically with your personal carers selected about your individual care needs.

What happens if I do not know any local people, friends or family who I want to provide my care?

The HomeCareDirect case manager will seek to help identify people local to you who could provide your care.

HomeCareDirect itself may have on our Personal Carer Register, people local to you who may be wiling to provide your care. You would then need to meet the personal carer to see if they were acceptable to you.

HomeCareDirect will assist you to recruit and train local people to provide your care for you.

What happens if no care staff can be located?

HomeCareDirect will seek to ensure that this does not happen by continuing to support the client to identify local people to provide care. This could include:-

Advertising in the local press.

Contacting local carer support groups.

Using the HomeCareDirect 'Personal Carer Register' to identify personal carers.

Contacting local community groups to seek to identify people who would be very suitable to provide care at home but who had previously not considered the option of only providing care for someone very local to them.

Contacting the local authority to ask if they could identify personal carers themselves who could provide care.

Can I pay privately if I want more care than has been assessed by my social worker?

Yes!

You can organise more care to be provided for you than has been your 'assessed need' by your social worker, but this will need to be privately funded by yourself or your family.

You or your family can also supplement any funding given to you as an alternative to going into a nursing or residential home.

Any additional care which is required to help keep you safe at home, can be funded privately either by yourself or by your family.

Can I use HomeCareDirect if I am not on Direct Payments?

If you are already receiving care at home from the Local Authority or from a private care agency which is funded by the Local Authority, then you can request to go onto Direct Payments as a means of funding your care in future.

Once in receipt of Direct Payments you then have a choice as to which carers you wish to come into your home to provide your care.

Your care at home can alternatively be completely funded privately through HomeCareDirect.

Would I be able to move from a residential or nursing home, and back into my own home if I use the HomeCareDirect System?

The HomeCareDirect System can be used to keep people at home safer for longer.

You and your family and your social worker would need to assess how much support and care you needed in your own home to keep you safe through the HomeCareDirect System.

Once your level of care need at home had been assessed, then if there was sufficient funding, either from the Local Authority or privately, then you could go home for either a trail period or for much longer to assess how you manage at home. The over riding question is whether you will be safe at home, and whether your care needs can be met at home.

Whether you are able to stay at home would then depend on how things progressed, how you felt personally, and whether there was sufficient funding to maintain your health and safety at home by using the HomeCareDirect System.

I am in receipt of a compensation payment following an accident. Can I use the HomeCareDirect System to organise my care at home?

HomeCareDirect will be happy to talk to all insurance and professional financial advisors to discuss how the HomeCareDirect system can be used to provide long term care for a person at home.

HomeCareDirect can be a very efficient and beneficial way of funding and providing a high level of care needs support for all levels of care at home.

HomeCareDirect can also be used by financial advisors as an additional option for clients to receive secure and safe care at home, as a real viable alternative to residential or nursing home care.