Personalisation of Adult Social Care

Personalisation - What it's all about

In December 2007 Central and local government and their key partners committed themselves to the transformation of adult social care by signing an agreement called 'Putting People First'.

The key aim of Putting People First is ‘Personalisation’. Personalisation is all about giving people the choice and control over the shape of their care and support, along with greater emphasis on prevention and early intervention. Vital to achieving Personalisation is ‘Self Directed Support’.

What is Self Directed Support?

‘Self Directed Support’ is a change to the way the social care system operates to give individuals choice, control and the power over the support they receive. A major part of ‘Self Directed Support’ is the introduction of ‘Personal Budgets’.

What are Personal Budgets?

Personal Budgets mean that individuals who are assessed as having social care support needs will have a clear up front allocation of money that they can use to design and purchase the support they need.

Over the short term Doncaster Council will be offering Personal Budgets which are made up of Social Care funding only. Over time further funding streams will be aligned, and Personal Budgets will become Individual Budgets. Individual Budgets are the same as Personal Budgets but made up of several funding streams rather than just Social Care funding.

A national timetable means that all Councils will have introduced Individual Budgets by 2011 as part of their Personalisation programme.

Transforming Social Care in Doncaster

In Doncaster the process of introducing Self-Directed Support is already well underway. In October 2008 systems were in place to enable new social care users who live in the centre of Doncaster (Urban area) and people with Autism (including Aspergers) who are entitled to publicly funded adult social care to:

• know exactly how much money is available for their care and support needs
• be able to choose and control how this money is spent

By April 2009 Personal Budgets had also been offered to new services users in the North and West of the borough.

To find out more please select the link you want from the list on the left hand side of this page.