Self-directed support and personalisation is all about you being in control of the support you need. With self-directed support, services will be more personalised to your specific needs and individual circumstances.
You will be able to direct your own support and have complete control over the services you receive. But don't worry, family members, friends, your care manager and other professionals can help you do this. There will always be help available should you need it.
Unfortunately North Lincolnshire Council is not able to offer you an individualised budget yet. However if you are interested in having a more flexible social care package please ask you care manager about direct payments or see our direct payments web pages for further information. Direct payments are cash payments made instead of social service provisions to people who are eligible for services. They allow more flexibility than may be offered with traditional council services.
What does self-directed support mean for me?
Self-directed support will mean that:
- You will be in control of the money you receive for your support and have your own individual budget
- You can choose how to spend the money for your support
- You can choose things about your life, for example, who you get your support from and at what times
- You can get help to do things if you want it.
Who is self-directed support for?
Self-directed support will be for anyone who gets help that is paid for by social services. Clients will undergo a person-led assessment process to determine if they are eligible for support. If they are eligible the council will help them to develop a support plan about how they will spend their individual budget to meet their individual needs.
The council will be encouraging clients to think creatively about the services they use and can help clients look at the different options available to them.
Where did the idea of self-directed support come from?
Self-directed support is a government led agenda. Following a government consultation the White Paper 'Our Health, Our Care, Our Say' (DH 2006) was released. This document identified seven areas that clients want from health and social care services:
- Improved health and emotional well-being
- Improved quality of life
- Making a positive contribution
- Increased choice and control
- Freedom from discrimination and harassment
- Economic well-being
- Maintaining personal dignity.
Following this the government decided that adult social services must change to ensure that every person who receives support, whether provided by the statutory services or funded themselves, will have choice and control over the shape of that support in all care settings.
A leaflet giving information on personalisation and various services to suit you can be downloaded here as a PDF:
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Newletters
Each month the council provides a newsletter for both service users and service providers, giving the latest information on self-directed support. The latest newsletters are available below:
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More information:
For more information on self-directed support contact Linda Aird, resources officer, on 01724 297368, email linda.aird@northlincs.gov.uk or visit the in-control website.
Note: All documents are in Portable Document Format (PDF) and therefore require a suitable reader to view them. A reader can be downloaded free from the Adobe website (full instructions for downloading the reader are provided on the site).