The Prime Minister’s proposal for a National Care Service has raised questions about the future of care and support in England. The promise of free personal care for older people is significant. But if you use Direct Payments, you may also be wondering whether you’ll still be able to choose who supports you and how that support is arranged.
The details are still being developed. At this time, there are no suggestedchanges to Direct Payments in these proposals, but questions remain about what the reforms would mean for working-age disabled people.
Why that choice matters
Direct Payments give people more say over their care and support. That can mean employing a Personal Assistant who knows your routines, arranging help around work or family commitments, or getting support to take part in your community.
These choices affect everyday life: when you get up, where you go and who helps you. They allow support to fit around you, rather than expecting you to fit around a service. A National Care Service could make suitable support more accessible by reducing financial barriers. But the way it is organised will matter just as much as how it is funded.
What needs protecting?
At Empower, we want reform to make it easier for people to get the support they need while keeping control over their own arrangements.
Our concern is that a more standardised system could leave less room for individual choices. If councils rely more heavily on services they run or commission, people could find themselves offered a set service without a clear explanation of alternatives such as Direct Payments.
That is a risk to consider as the proposals develop, rather than a confirmed outcome. It could be avoided by making sure people are told about their options and have practical help to choose and manage their support. There also needs to be room for different uses of Direct Payments within agreed support plans, including employing PAs and getting support with wellbeing and community life.
Personalised care should be part of the plan from the start
A National Care Service offers an opportunity to improve access to care and give people more reliable support. It should also protect the decisions that matter to each person.
That means involving people who use care and support in designing the system, including disabled people, older people, families and individual employers. In our view, personalised care should be a core part of the service from the outset. People should have a clear choice about how their support is arranged, with the advice and funding needed to make that choice work.
You can read the House of Commons Library overview of the National Care Service proposals for more detail about what has been announced and what remains undecided.
Have questions about what this could mean for your support? Get in touch with Empower. We’ll explain what’s confirmed, what’s still being decided and whether there’s anything you need to do.
