SUPPORT AND CARE THROUGH A PERSONAL BUDGET
By James Lucas, Southern Housing Group Personal Budget Officer
Personal Budgets, to the uninitiated, may still be something of a mystery. To most holders of Personal Budgets they have become a gateway to more personal and effective care and support. In this age of choice, if you have a social care need your involvement in the design of your care package is paramount. Gone is the time you are told what you must have. Now is the time for you to have your say about what you want and how you want it.
Southern Housing Group is a large housing association and is also one of the largest providers of care and support on the Island. I would like to tell you a bit about Personal Budgets, what SHG does, how we can help and some examples of how we’ve helped Personal Budget holders.
support services have a very high level of customer satisfaction. Dave, one of a growing number of SHG customers with a Personal Budget, says: “I get support twice a week and I think it’s wonderful. Staff help me with my letters and help me with my shopping.” Dave is pictured with his wife Ann-Marie
Another customer, Adi, also benefits from the service: “The Dorset Steam Fair, which was organised by Southern Housing Group, was a great trip out which we paid for with our Personal Budgets.”
“The care that I get is brilliant. Staff look after you” said Reg, whose Personal Budget helps him live as independently as possible in one of our supported housing schemes. Reg is pictured working on the garden project at Quarr Abbey.
SHG’s Care and Supporting Independence Team are able to offer a very wide range of one to one and group services to anybody on the Island. We can provide services such as intimate personal care services, help with domestic chores, support with housing related issues, help with food preparation and shopping, support to get out and about in the community, medication prompts, and care and support with many more other diverse needs. Sometimes it’s easier to say what we don’t do! We are registered with the Care Quality Commission and have been delivering services for over 20 years so you know you can expect very high standards from us.
Reg working on the garden project at Quarr Abbey Dave is with his wife Ann-Marie
Previously, if you had a social care need, you would be assessed to see the extent of your needs and what those needs were. If you were eligible for support from the local authority you would then be assigned a care and support provider from an approved list, and your choice may have been fairly limited. Personal Budgets turns this process on its head.
Now, if you are assessed by the local authority as being eligible for social care you will most likely start down the Personal Budget route. This involves filling out a questionnaire which assesses your needs in several different areas. It also indicates the amount of money that is required to fund those assessed needs. It is with this indicative amount that you then put together a support plan that includes how your needs will be met and how much it will cost. The Isle of Wight Council’s website has details on this process which you can see online at:
http://www.iwight.com/living_ here/health-and-wellbeing/your_care/. If you are unable to view this online you can contact the council on 01983 821000. I would also be happy to talk to you about it and you can contact me using the details at the end of this article.
My role at SHG involves being the first point of contact with people with Personal Budgets who would like to use our care and support services. I can provide you with information on what we have to offer (I will go into this shortly) as well as actually help you to put your support plan together on your behalf. I can visit you in the place of your choice or you can come to see me at our offices in Newport. I will then talk to you about what you want to do with your Personal Budget and how SHG’s care and support services may be able to help. I have personally helped lots of people on the Island design their care and support package and our care and
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As a housing provider, we also have various types of accommodation for all sorts of people. Personal Budgets can
be used to fund excellent support services within our specialised accommodation and we have properties across the Island. If you would like to learn more about our accommodation, please contact us.
Southern Housing Group has helped people to live more independently by assisting them to look after their home so that they can live the way they want to. Often, living in their own home and not being able to take care of it themselves can deeply impact upon their emotional health. We help people with their personal care whilst maintaining their dignity. We have helped people to access their local community and in some cases, just get out of the house and enjoy someone else’s company. Social isolation, especially in more rural areas,
can again impact heavily on someone’s wellbeing. For those who are unable to get to the shops and don’t have the ability to do their shopping online we do their shopping with them. We also help people with cooking, meal planning and food budgeting which is extremely relevant in times of rising food prices.
We have a lot of contacts with other services and we help people access these. These services are often very good value for money so they help to maximize support. We even offer our own group activities such as gardening at Quarr Abbey and swimming sessions at Waterside Swimming pool at very low cost. In addition to all this, we are always happy to consider meeting your needs in almost any way you can think of. We like to think that we are just as flexible and imaginative as you.
We believe that customer involvement is very important so once you have your Personal Budget in place, your say in your care and support continues if you receive a service from SHG. We will listen to you and tailor your care and support to continually meet your needs. We will also help you liaise with your care manager and talk to them if you feel your needs have changed and you need a review of your Personal Budget. We will ask you to sign a Care and Support Agreement which details our commitment to you and lets you know how to get the most out of your service.
Personal Budgets are here to stay as they have proven to be very successful, and for once it is something that the various parties in local and national government agree on. We like to think of ourselves here at SHG as experts in care and support provision and we have worked with a lot of people with Personal Budgets. If you have any queries about what we do and how we can help, please get in touch. I look forward to your call.
Contact me, James Lucas, on 01983 522 479, option 2. Alternatively, you can email me at
casi@shgroup.org.uk or write to me at Southern Housing Group Ltd, The Courtyard, St Cross Business Park, Newport PO30 5BF.
May / June 2012 13
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