Direct payments
If you have been assessed as needing social services, we can give you a cash sum to buy services yourself.
Direct payments gives you the flexibility to buy the care and support you need. You have control to arrange your own care.
What you can use direct payments for
- Employ your own support worker or personal assistant
- Pay a care agency to provide support to you
- Pay for support to attend college or go to work
- Buy your own short break in a residential care home of your choice
- Buy some equipment that you need for your care and support (such as a particular wheelchair)
- You can only spend your direct payment on support that you have been assessed as needing
What you cannot use direct payments for
- Clothes, food and savings
- Permanent residential care
- Buying support from community, health and social care
- Employing someone who lives in the same home as you, unless there are special reasons for doing so
How do you get direct payments?
If you are already getting care and support through community, health and social care, then contact your social worker or contact the Direct Payments Team.
If you are not getting care and support, then you should contact social services and ask for an assessment of your needs.
What else do you need to think about?
Before you get direct payments, you will need to discuss
- how you will use the money to meet your needs
- whether you will need to make a contribution to the cost of your support
- how you will manage your direct payment
- what happens in an emergency
- whether you want to employ staff and what your legal responsibilities will be as an employer
- how you will record what you are spending the direct payment on
You can talk to your social worker or to the Direct Payments Team about all these issues. The Direct Payments Team will be able to help you with some of these on a longer term basis.
You will also need to open a bank account just for your direct payments.
What is the Direct Payments Team
This is a small team of people who will offer you independent advice and support about direct payments. They are based at Salford CVS.
Direct Payments Team
telephone: 0161 789 8670
email: office@suggest.org.uk
The Old Town Hall
off Irwell PLace
Eccles
M30 0EJ
This page was last updated on 21 November 2007
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