A hot topic for debate at Thursday's public consultation meeting for the development of adult mental health services was the use of 'Direct Payments' to allow service users more choice in the services they receive.

 

Sandy Taylor, CEO of the Partnership Trust, provided an example of how one person suffering depression had been assessed and allocated a set amount of money per week to provide services which would cure or reduce the persons suffering. In this example the individual enrolled on a football referee course which would allow him to referee at football matches at the weekend which in turn meant the individual had less time to dwell on his circumstances and lead a more fulfilled life.

 

Another use of direct payments might be to pay for a home help to ease the burden of day to day life, or to pay for somebody to provide respite services.

 

Whilst this type of service is a potentially great thing to have, the reason for the robust debate at the meeting was simply down to the following three questions:

 

How do we know if we can access these services and what do we have to do to find out?

How do we know what services are available or are permissable under the scheme, and

Do your staff on the ground know how to help us access these services?

 

In view of the potential benefits this type of service could make to peoples lives we would like to hear about your experiences of direct payments.

I think local authorities are snagged into procurement issues (finding care service providers at a reasonable contracted rate for example), cannot deal with things swiftly nor effectively (it seems to take a first meeting going to a manager, going to team meeting, going to a partner involvement meeting , ... ) in order to get things done.

Plus!  I'd like to see some facts and figures linking care need to services available as it seems so transparently unclear about what is required, what is available in general and what is available in personal situation.

he involvement channels in local authorities seem so cumbersome plus observation that whatever might be agreed might be nullified by commissioners anyway.

Direct payments worked well in South Yorkshire Area and people did not seem to have problems understanding how they worked but during discussions in the area I live they hadn't heard of this until about 6/9 months ago and some still do not know what this entails therefore, I think that more publicity should be done for people to understand it more. It is certainly a wonderful thing for people who need help in one way or another. I am now in the Hampshire area.