Winners of the 2007 Cambridgeshire and Peterborough
Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust
Good Practice Award for Partnerships

Self Directed Support

A new approach for people who have social care support needs in Cambridgeshire

Introduction
In December 2007 the Government published Putting People First - a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of social care. The government wants to make social care more personalised which means giving greater choice and control to people in how their social care needs are met.

‘Over time people who use social care services and their families
will increasingly shape and commission the services they receive.’ Putting People First

What is Self Directed Support?
Self Directed Support is a new way of providing social care to adults living in Cambridgeshire who have been assessed as having social care needs. The process involves identifying a Personal Budget, which is designed to help people take control over their lives, manage their support (with or without assistance) and identifies their own goals and needs and plans the service(s) or support that best suits them. The person is at the centre of the planning process.

There are 7 steps to being in control:
1. Finding out if you are eligible - and if so - How much money you are entitled to
2. Making your support plan - how the money will be used to get the life you want. You can do the plan yourself or have help to do it
3. Getting the plan agreed - your plan will need to be agreed through a process set up within the CPFT.
4. Organising the money - making sure the money is used to pay for your care and support and achieves your goals.
5. Organising support - organising support in a way that that suits you- help will be available to find and organise support if required.
6. Living Life - Your support plan should help you live the life you want to lead, including participating and contributing to your local community.
7. Seeing how it worked - you have to show that you have used the money to meet your needs. There will be a review by your Care Co-ordinator to make sure that you are getting the help you need, or to see if your circumstances have changed.

Has it Worked for Others?
Here are some examples of how it worked for others:

Patrick's Story
Sandra's Story
Tony's Story
George's Story

Video on YouTube
Courtesy of the Care Services Improvement Partnership and the National Institute for Mental Health in England, a two part video about how direct payments are used can be viewed from here:

Part One
Part Two

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT)
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a key partner in the future delivery of self directed support to people with mental health needs and work has begun with the Trust to consider how this new initiative will be linked to the Care Programme Approach, Wellness Recovery and Action Plans and Review processes.

In some cases service users, including those with mental health needs, will be expected to make a contribution to the cost of providing social care support. People who come under Section 117 of the Mental Health Act 1983 will continue to be exempt from making a contribution to their support costs.

There will be various ways of holding the budget if service users do not wish to receive their personal budget directly, or if it is felt that it would not be in their best interests to do so.

What’s next?
There’s a great deal of work to do! We need to engage, inform and prepare service users, carers, providers, the community and CPFT staff about the transformation of social care, systems and processes and what this means. It is hoped that we will have everything in place by January 2010.

Ultimately, the ideal social care is a model that has a
…. ‘single community based support system focused on the health and well being of the local population. Binding together local Government, primary care, community based health provision, public health, social care and the wider issues of housing, employment, benefits advice and education and training’ Putting People First

Further details:
• Copy of the full report and approved by Cambridgeshire County Council’s (CCC) Cabinet on 16 December 2008
• Glossary of the commonly terms used (CCC)
• Copies of FAQ’s about self directed support (CCC)

These can be found on Cambridgeshire County Council website or from Cambridgeshire County Council’s Transformation Team email.

Links/References:
• ‘Putting People First’: a shared vision and commitment to the transformation of adult social care. 10 December 2007. Ministerial concordat www.dh.gov.uk
• ‘State of Independence’, Peter Beresford, The Guardian, 23 May 2007
• ‘A Voice and a Choice’ Self-Directed Support by people with mental health problems. A Discussion Paper. (3mb pdf) Rita K Brewis September 2007 www.in-control.org.uk
• ‘No voice, no choice’ CSCI and Healthcare Commission 30th July 2007. www.healthcarecommission.org.uk
• Speech by Phil Hope MP, about 'Putting People First: One Year On'
• SDS4ME Website
• In Control Website
• Cambridge ULO Website

For further information contact:
Jane Banning
Self Direct Support Lead (Adults mental health)
Box no. CCC 1311, Castle Court, Shire Hall. Cambridge. CB3 0AP
Mobile: 07747632178 Direct dial: 01223 715952
Email: jane.banning@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Last revised 23 April 2009

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