What you need to know
1. What is a Care Act Assessment?
An assessment under the Care Act 2014 is an assessment of needs for care and support (including transition assessments), or an assessment of a carer’s needs for support.
The nature of the assessment will vary depending on the person and their circumstances. The assessment process should be appropriate and proportionate to the individual and their needs.
You may need to do a re-assessment under the Care Act following a review of a care and support plan, when it has been identified that there has been a change in needs.
2. Direct Payment or Managed Service?
| Standard direct payment | Managed account/service |
|---|---|
| The direct payment is paid directly to you, an agent or the authorised person. | We will pay the money directly to the managed account on your behalf. |
| Usually, you have to set up a separate bank account purely for the direct payment. We then pay into this account. | We pay the direct payment into a managed account bank account. |
| You are responsible for paying the personal assistant and any other invoices/cheques/standing orders/direct debits which relate to managing the direct payment. |
You submit all details of the PA’s timesheets to the current payroll provider. The current payroll provider will then deal with the administration and pay wages directly to the PA. An agency/provider will send invoices to the current managed account provider and this will generate the payment of the relevant invoice. |
| You will be invoiced for your contribution every 4 weeks. | You will be invoiced for your contribution every 4 weeks. |
| You are accountable for all expenditure and make sure you send the monitoring returns to the council. | The current managed account provider will submit monitoring returns as required by the council. |
3. What could I be charged?
Unlike health care, social care is not free, so following on from your Care Needs Assessment, which works out what support you need and how much it will cost to provide, we will offer to complete a financial assessment to work out how much of that cost the Council can cover, and how much you’ll need to pay for yourself.
This takes into account the amount of income, savings or assets you have so you may have to contribute towards some or all of your social care and support. The Government have set guidelines on how much you can have in savings or assets before you will be asked to pay for your support.
For more information, please click here: Paying for Support - Bradford Council
4. Can I get help with my costs?
If you live in the community and do not think you can afford to pay your contribution towards your care and support you can appeal against the contribution. Please contact the Contributions Team on 01274 437975 / 01535 618109 for information on how to appeal.
If you are potentially moving into a care home, this will be dependent on financial circumstances, but extra help may be available through benefits such as Income Support or Pension Credit. The Council will include this in the income a person has when they decide how much should be paid.
The Council has set a top limit on the fees it will pay.
Individual residential or care homes may charge more than this. If you decide you want to live in a home that is more expensive than the Council's limit, then you will have to arrange for someone else to pay the extra. This will be explained by your worker.
5. What do I do if my care needs change?
If you believe your care needs have changed, you can either speak to your allocated Social Worker, if you still have one allocated to you. Otherwise, please contact the Independence Advice Hub to discuss your situation. You can contact us in two ways:
- using this online form
- by phoning the Independence Advice Hub on 01274 435400
The Independence Advice Hub is open: Monday to Thursday: 8.30am to 5pm, Friday: 8.30am to 4.30pm
6. Equipment to help you at home
For equipment and adaptations for everyday tasks. Please see the content page here: Equipment Guides
7. Peer Support
Peer Support groups are a valuable way of meeting people that can share their 'lived experience' both of what they have been through and also their interaction with services. To find support groups within your area please click below and then complete your postcode on the left hand side of the page: Bradford District Support Groups