Self Directed Support

 The control you want over the support you need

View the Personalisation and Self Directed Support DVD

The way we provide support is changing.

We will assess and review your support needs but you decide what support is important to you, who provides that support and when.  Adult Services will help you to choose the support you want.

Self Directed Support means more options and choices about your care.  It is part of the government's new Personalisation Agenda which aims to put individual people, rather than the council, in the driving seat when it comes to choosing the care they need.

With Self Directed Support, you decide how much control you want.  You may prefer to manage your support yourself with a Personal Budget or you may prefer Adult Services to manage your support on your behalf.  Your Assessor will help you to decide how to create the right "mix" of support to match your needs.

 How is it different from the old way?

Traditionally an Assessor looked at your needs and told you what the choices were.  Sometimes there may have been only one or two options.  This is because the Council used to anticipate people's care needs and purchase ("commission") services in block contracts in advance. This meant the Council did both the choosing and the buying and everyone was provided with similar services. 

Under "Self Directed Support", if you  have been assessed as needing support, you will be told how much money the Council will give you for you to spend on the care and support you want.  It is no longer a choice between what the Council has already purchased on your behalf or nothing.  You are in charge of the commissioning process and choose what sort of care you want to buy.

What changes can I expect to my Care Plan?

Self Directed support is a very new project in Tameside and will be introduced gradually.

From now on, if you have been assessed as needing care by Tameside Council's Adult Services, your Assessor or the Reviewer of your Support Plan previously known as Care Plan will inform you of the amount of money available to you and will help you look at and decide which support options suit you best.

Assessors will be asking people, together with their families and carers, to think about what is important to them in their support needs.  They will find out what is working well with their existing arrangements and what is not working so well.  Assessors will help people to determine their individual preferences, find out what is important to them and what suits their way of life.  These details will be included in a support plan.

Working with the service user, their carers and others involved with their support, an Assessor will explore whether there are any alternatives or better ways of organising the support an individual needs which will enhance their quality of life, health and well being.

For further information, please contact the Self Directed Support Team at the address below.

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Tameside Adult Services Stalybridge Resource Centre Waterloo Road Stalybridge SK15 2AU  View local map
0161 342 2400
0161 342 2460
0161 342 3602