SCA Group

Services for a brighter future

PERSONALISATION - A Free Guide to Help People Choose Care

What things do you need to take into account when choosing people to look after you or a loved one? Where do things like employment law and CRB checks fit in?

Personal budgets for care are being introduced nationally and locally, so people in Hampshire, Dorset and the New Forest will soon have greater choice about the way they are looked after when they can no longer cope on their own.

We have therefore produced a free leaflet to help older people and those with physical or learning disabilities and their carers to understand how the changes will affect them.

The booklet, entitled ‘Social Care is Changing - What Does it Mean for You?', outlines what is involved in the new system of personalised care and personal budgets and lists organisations that can provide further help and advice.

The booklet points out some of the steps people should take when employing care workers or agencies to look after them and how to ensure they remain safe.  Things such as CRB checks, employment law and health and safety aspects may have to be taken into account as well as how well staff are trained or monitored.

Personal budgets are part of a national agenda designed to give people more choice and control over what care they receive, how it is organised, and how it is paid for.

The new arrangements allow people who are eligible for funding to receive direct payments for their care from the local authority and to employ care workers directly themselves.  The system has been piloted in Basingstoke and is being rolled out across Hampshire in 2010.  All local authorities in England are expected to have at least a third of their eligible adults on personal budgets by 2011.

To obtain your free copy of the leaflet call SCA Group on 023 8036 6663 or click here to download the leaflet.