Individual budgets can benefit carers, research shows
Carer Services Minister, Phil Hope, has today announced the findings of a new report which suggests carers can benefit from individual budgets. However it also highlights that the assessment process for service users’ individual budgets sometimes overlooks the needs of carers.
Individual budgets are an alternative way of paying for social care. Instead of local authorities buying services on behalf of a carer, that person is given control of their own budget and can direct how it is spent, allowing the care package to be tailored to their needs.
The research, 'The Individual Budgets Pilot Projects: Impacts and Outcomes for Carers' found that carers are more able to “engage in activities of their choice” when using individual budgets.
Carers identified the benefits of individual budgets as including greater flexibility, choice and control. This positively affected how they spent their time and improved the quality of life of the service user.
But the research also revealed that the assessment process for service users’ individual budgets can sometimes overlook carers' needs. Local authority officers also had mixed views about paying carers from a person’s individual budget.
Mr Hope said: "Carers have told me that their lives improved beyond all recognition when their loved one got choice and control over their own care. What is clear is that individual budgets need to be carefully implemented.
"This research, combined with the excellent report from The Princess Royal Trust for Carers and Crossroads Caring for Carers, will help local authorities to help more people and carers experience the benefits of individual budgets.”
Director of Policy and Communications at The Princess Royal Trust for Carers, Alex Fox, welcomed the findings, but warned: "Individual budgets need to be implemented properly to allow carers greater involvement in the decisions which affect their lives.
"However some councils are neglecting to do this. Where carers feel isolated and under-valued, care plans for very vulnerable people can break down. Neither families, nor the social care system’s budgets can afford this.
"Our 'Putting People First Without Putting Carers Second' report, launched today, examines the challenges local councils and health trusts face in making 'personalisation' a reality for carers alongside those they care for. It also highlights a range of solutions that are already in place to meet those challenges."
Read 'Putting People First without putting carers second'
http://www.carers.org/news/individual-b ... 10,NW.html