Prime Care

East Sussex (Head Office)01323 491975

West Sussex01903 823225

Hampshire02392 291608

E–mailhelp@primecare.uk.com

Paying for your Care

We work with social-services departments, primary-care trusts (PCTs) and a wide range of support organisations to assess how your care is paid for. In many cases, after a local authority or PCT has carried out a financial assessment, you will not have to pay for your care. In other cases, you may have to make a contribution to the cost of your care.

You may be eligible to receive a ‘direct payment’ from your local authority’s social-care budget. This is where means-tested cash payments are made to people who need support. It is paid to you direct, or to a ‘managed account’, so that you can have more of a say in how we deliver your care.

Unlike direct payments, which only use money from a local authority’s social-care budget, you may be eligible for an ‘individual budget’, which uses resources from different funding available. Individual budgets are designed to give you choice and control over how you receive your care. It can be as a direct payment, services paid for by the local authority, or a broker who manages the budget on your behalf, or a combination of all of these. You can spend the money on any product or service that achieves the result given in the care plan. The local authority is still responsible for making sure that the appropriate range of support is available.

The term ‘individual budget’ is often called ‘personal budget’. It is the money you receive to meet your needs. You can take your personal budget as a direct payment or choose to manage it in different ways, including leaving councils with the responsibility to pay for the service.

However, we will be happy to help you with the paperwork – if you want us to. We can also introduce you to the right organisations to talk to independently about the way you can receive financial help and manage your care.

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