Cumbria County Council Adult &
Children's Social Care
Direct Payment Service Questionnaire
This Questionnaire closed on 1 June 2011
For the attention of: -
Service Users, Carers and their Network Groups
Background information
If you think you need care or support services, Cumbria County Council's Adult Social Care Service or Children's Services team will carry out an assessment of your needs.
Once we have carried out this assessment, there are three ways in which the services you need can be arranged:
- we can give you a Direct Payment so you can arrange your own services in the way in which you prefer; or
- we can arrange the services for you or
- you can have a combination of the two.
A Direct Payment is money we can give you to enable you to arrange and be in control of the services you choose to meet your needs. Forexample, you can use the Direct Payment to:
- pay a care agency to provide you directly with services;
- employ your own staff;
- design your own service that fits your choices and needs;
- buy equipment that better fits your lifestyle;
- arrange your own respite/short break care to offer you or your carer a break; or
- a combination of any of these.
Current arrangements
There are three main local sources of support for Direct Payments: -
- your case worker
- Cumbria Independent Direct Payments Advice and Support Service and
- Adult Social Care/Children's Services Direct Payments Administrators
Adult Social Care with Children's Services currently has a contract with DACE (Disability Association Carlisle and Eden) to provide option 2 identified above. This contract is due to finish soon and Cumbria County Council is required to ask all interested providers to bid for this service.
Shaping the new service
Direct payments are a form of self directed support and have been available to service users since 1996. Self Directed Support enables people who need social care and support to have greater choice and control over the services they receive. In Adult Social Care we call this ‘Personal Budgets' (referred to below as ‘your money').
The best people to comment on how a service should be provided are those that have experience of that service. We would like you to think about your experiences and how you can be best supported to:
a) spend your money
b) manage your money
c) account for your money
What to do if you need help
A friend or a relative could have helped complete the questionnaire.
Confidentiality
Your answers will be treated confidentially: they will not be passed on to your social worker or anyone else responsible for providing you with services. You will not be personally identified.
The Direct Payment Service Consultation Letter can be found here: -
Cumbria County Council Direct Payment Service Consultation Letter 1 June 2011
The questionnaire is attached for you to complete: -
Cumbria County Council Direct Payment Service Consultation Form 1 June 2011
The deadline for submitting the questionnaire was Wednesday 1 June 2011,
By email to: clare.redpath@cumbriacc.gov.uk
By post to:
Claire Redpath
Adult Social Care Headquarters
15 Portland Square
Carlisle
Cumbria
CA1 1QQ