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Self-Directed Support - Contents

What is Self-Directed Support?

Self-directed Support is the name for how people get care and support in Scotland. It is often called SDS for short.

This includes children, adults and unpaid carers. This Guide will help people who need care and support, and unpaid carers, understand their rights.

 

The name Self-directed Support comes from the law that says how people should get care and support in Scotland. The law came into effect in 2014 and is called the Social Care (Self Directed Support) (Scotland) Act.

 

Considering applying for SDS, for care or support to help you live the life you want to live can be a daunting process. It can sometimes be challenging and stressful.

 

Please be reassured, you are not on your own here. Deafblind Scotland can give d/Deaf, visually impaired and deafblind people help, advice, and practical support.

 

Contact our Welfare Rights team…

Phone: 0141 777 6111

Email: wr@dbscotland.org.uk

Can I Get Social Care Support?

If you need support to live your life, there are lots of different types of support you can get.

 

Local authorities (councils) provide certain types of support. Each council in Scotland sets their own rules for who can access this support. This is known as their eligibility criteria.

 

When you contact your council to ask about social care support, they will ask you questions to find out what you need support with – this is known as an assessment. More information on that in the next section.

 

After they have completed the assessment, the council will decide if you meet their criteria to get support through them.

 

Each council has different rules, once they assess you they will rate you needs as either low, moderate, high or critical risk.

 

Most councils publish their eligibility criteria for adult social care support on their website. You can find contact details and the website for your local council here https://www.mygov.scot/local-council-website

 

If your council thinks you are not eligible for social care support through them, they should still tell you about other types of support you could get, for example from community groups or charities.

 

Possible issue at this stage: When you contact your local council to ask about getting support, they may want to work out if you meet their eligibility criteria first, before doing a full assessment.

 

However, you have the right to request a proper assessment to help them understand all the things you need support with, before they decide if you are eligible.

 

 

Assessment of Needs

 

An assessment of needs is a discussion between you and anyone who helps you, and your council, to understand your current situation and what you need support with.

 

You have the legal right to request an assessment, even if you are not sure if you would qualify for social care support through your council.

 

You should contact your local council’s social work department and ask for an assessment of needs.

 

You can find the contact details for your local social work department using the Find Help search tool here https://handbook.scot/sds-handbook/find-help/

 

You can contact your council yourself, or ask a family member, friend, or someone else to do this for you.

 

It is the responsibility of the local authority (council) to carry out the assessment. This is usually the social work department, although in some areas, they will organise for another organisation to do this, for example a Carers’ Centre.

Preparing for Assessment

It is important to prepare for the assessment. This will help the person doing your assessment understand your situation and everything you need support with.

 

The assessment should be carried out by a practitioner such as a social worker or an occupational therapist or even a health practitioner. 

 

Getting prepared will also help you to evidence your support needs.

It is necessary to evidence to the practitioner what it is you can’t do and what support you need. However, if you just focus on this it is easy to miss the big picture. 

 

It is worthwhile taking some time to try and figure out what your goals in life are and what it is you would like to achieve in life.  Another name for these goals are Outcomes.  By identifying your outcomes, it is easier for you to demonstrate your needs, or the support you require, to reach these outcomes. 

 

One way you can prepare for an assessment is to keep a diary of the support you needed each day.  Also list the things you would have done if support had been available.  There is a form at the end of this guide to help you keep track of things.

Identifying Risks and Support Needed

It is also useful to identify what risks there are to the supported person if the support is not put in place.  This can help justify obtaining support from the local authority.

 

For example, if John doesn’t get help to take his heart medication twice per day then the risk would be that John could suffer a heart attack and end up in hospital.

 

Many people have better days than others.  It is important not to underestimate the support you need on your bad days.  If you only talk about the support you need on your good days, this will inevitably lead to you having inadequate support when you are having a bad day.

 

What follows is a list of tasks you might need support for.  You should identify what tasks you need support with, how you would like this support to be carried out and how long it would take to carry out each task. 

 

It is also worth noting what the risks are if the support does not happen.  It is not an exhaustive list.

 

Waking up.

Getting in and out of bed.

Brushing hair and teeth.

Showering/bathing.

Dressing or undressing.

Wearing environmentally appropriate clothing.

Shaving.

Applying make-up.

Toileting.

Eating.

Drinking.

Avoiding choking.

Taking medicines.

Applying creams.

Pain management.

Fatigue management.

Exercising.

Sleeping.

Adjusting your position.

Moving safely, both inside and outside your home.

Deciding what to have to eat or drink.

Preparing food and drink.

Doing the dishes.

Cleaning and tidying your home.

Managing your money.

Shopping.

Maintaining a tenancy.

Socialising.

Planning your day.

Going places.

Maintaining family relationships.

Managing specific medical conditions, e.g. epilepsy, diabetes.

Being a parent.

 

Click here for a sheet that can help you keep track of your support needs.

It is worthwhile to try and figure out your goals in life.  If you just concentrate on what you can’t do, or what you need support to do, you might miss other things that are equally as important.

 

All of this preparation will form the basis for a robust support plan for the type of care and support you choose.

 

A useful tool to develop a support plan has been created by In Control Scotland https://www.in-controlscotland.org/_files/ugd/fd9368_f9e56cd38b484df880d5df54bbd20c98.pdf

Support Budget

If your local Authority assess you as having a need for social care support you will be allocated a budget to pay for a certain number of hours of support.

 

You can decide how much choice, control and responsibility you want over how your support is provided.

 

SDS gives you four options that can be used to provide support in your home or to provide the practical support you need to go out

to work, education or to take part in leisure activities.

 

You can choose to buy support from a care agency or voluntary organisation, or you can employ a personal assistant. SDS gives you much more of a choice and control over sorting out the help you need, as you can choose who they are, what they do and when.

 

There are 4 different types of budget:

 

Option 1 The making of a direct payment by the local authority to

the supported person for the provision of support. You receive the money from your budget and you pay for your support directly.

 

Option 2 The supported person chooses where their support will come from. The Local Authority will make the arrangement to pay for the support on behalf of the supported person.

 

Option 3 The Local Authority chooses where the support will come from, and make arrangements to pay for the support directly.

 

Option 4 This is where you choose the parts of your support you want to have direct control over, and what you want to leave to your council to sort out for you. When multiple places are providing support the supported person chooses between Option 1, 2 or 3 for each type of support they receive.

 

 

Review

 

Once your support is in place, your social worker should check with you how it is going. This is called a review.

 

A review is about finding out how well your support is working and if anything needs to change.

Paying Towards Your Social Care Support (Care Charging)

Social care support is different from healthcare which you can get for free through the NHS. Depending on your circumstances, you may have to pay some of your own money towards the cost of your care and support.

 

If you are eligible for social care support though your council, you will be given a support budget after you have had an assessment.

 

This budget is how much your council thinks it will cost to provide the support you need.

 

It is likely your council will pay for most of the support budget. But, you might have to put some of your own money into the budget too, to help pay for your support.

 

Whether you have to pay, and how much, depends on where you live and how much money you have. 

 

 

What types of support might I have to pay towards?

 

There are certain types of support you cannot be asked to pay towards. These are:

 

  • Personal and nursing care, which is free for adults in Scotland who need it.

  • Support for unpaid carers

  • Support for people who are terminally ill

  • Support for children, unless in very rare circumstances.

 

For other types of support, your council may ask you to pay towards it.

 

 

How much will I have to pay?

 

How much you may have to pay depends on where you live and how much money you have.

 

Your council will do a financial assessment.

 

A financial assessment is where your council ask you to provide bank statements and other financial records so they can find out:

 

  • How much you earn in wages

  • How much you get paid in certain benefits

  • How much you get from a pension

  • How much you have in your savings.

 

Each council area has different rules for how much they will ask you to pay towards your support.

 

Once your council has done the financial assessment they should give you a copy of it. This should set out clearly how much you will be asked to pay and how they have worked this out.

 

 

Disability Related Expenses

 

When working out how much you may be asked to pay towards your support, your council has to make sure you have enough money to live on.

 

If you are disabled or have a health condition, you may have extra costs involved in managing this. These are called disability related expenses and are things like:

 

  • Medication and healthcare items like creams and incontinence pads

  • Accessible vehicle costs

  • Online shopping delivery fees – if you cannot go to the shops because of a disability

  • Taxis if public transport is inaccessible

  • Paying for an internet connection at home – if you need this for wellbeing or using disability aids

  • Specially adapted clothing

  • Extra laundry costs because of a disability or health condition

  • Extra heating costs because of a disability or health condition.

 

If you have extra costs like these, your council should take them into account when it is deciding how much you can afford to pay towards your support.

 

If you can explain to your council about any disability related expenses you have, it may reduce the amount you have to pay towards your support. 

 

 

Welfare benefits

 

People are sometimes worried that if they get a personal budget through Self-directed Support, this will affect their benefits.

 

The law says that any budget you get through Self-directed Support is not a benefit. It will not affect the amount you are paid in any benefits you already get.

How to Challenge Decisions

There might be times when you disagree with a decision that has been made about your social care support.

 

If there is a decision you do not agree with, you might feel angry, frustrated, helpless, or confused.

 

It might feel like you are not allowed to challenge a decision. This is not true. You can challenge a decision.

 

It is important to understand your rights and what the law says about how you should be treated.

 

There may be times when you feel you have been treated unfairly or that your needs have not been understood or recorded properly. This might mean that you need to challenge a decision.

 

You are not on your own. There is help out there to support you.

 

 

 

Where to start?

 

If a decision is made that you do not agree with, it can be helpful to take some time to prepare, before you challenge the decision.

 

You might want to:

  • write down the reasons you disagree with the decision.

  • list the effects of the decision, on yourself and anyone else, such as any unpaid carer or family member. This could include the negative effect on your emotional wellbeing, as well as the negative effects on your relationships with people.

  • speak to a friend or family member, or someone you trust that knows about your support needs, to get their opinion.

  • write down any questions you have or anything you do not understand, like the reasons for the decision.

 

As let down as you may feel, it is important to take some time to try to feel calmer. This will help you to put across your case more clearly.

Getting help from someone you trust, or an independent organisation, can help a lot here.

 

 

 

What can I do to challenge a decision?

 

There are several steps you can take if you want to challenge a decision.

 

This can be quite a stressful process. We recommend you speak to Deafblind Scotland Welfare Rights Team if you a visually impaired or deafblind or an Independent Support Organisation or advocacy service first.

 

These types of organisation can help you put your case across clearly and take some of the stress out of the situation.

 

They can help you do things like:

  • ask whoever has made the decision to look at it again, informally – by phone or email.

  • request a formal review of the decision, in writing (email or letter).

  • make an Appeal, if there is an Appeals process that you can use.

  • make a formal complaint using your council’s complaints process.

 

Deafblind Scotland Welfare Rights Team phone 0141 777 6111 or email wr@dbscotland.org.uk

 

You can find your local Independent Support Organisation using the

 

Find Help search tool, https://handbook.scot/sds-handbook/find-help/

 

You can find your local advocacy service here, https://www.siaa.org.uk/find-an-advocate/

 

 

 

What if I am still unhappy?

 

If you have tried these things and are still unhappy with the decision, there are further steps you can take.

 

These steps are more complicated and will need you to provide evidence about the decision and any contact you have had with the council so far.

 

If you decide to take these steps, it is a very good idea to get help and support.

 

As well as Deafblind Scotland and other Independent Support Organisations, and advocacy services, you may want to get help from a law centre or specialist solicitor.

 

Other options include:

  • You could contact the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman as the final stage for complaints about councils, https://www.spso.org.uk/spso

  • In exceptional circumstances, you could ask for a Judicial Review. This is a court case where a judge decides if a decision made by a council is legal or not. This can be expensive as you may have to pay for lawyers.

 

If you feel you have been discriminated against because of age, disability, gender, race, religion, or other reason, you can contact the Equality Advisory and Support Service for advice, https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Positive Impacts of SDS

SDS can be life-changing for people with sensory loss. One blind person who took part in the My Support My Choice research summarised the impact of SDS on their life as follows:

 

“SDS basically is the a la carte of the care system. Previously the local authority provided this care, you had no choice. […] But now with SDS I have control. I can choose what option I want (within the rules, of course!). I find this is much more liberating. […] Basically, it has been the passport to independence. Whereas before, oftentimes, especially if you’re disabled you have to take what you get, you haven’t really any choice. But to have the ability to decide for yourself is liberating. So, it makes a big difference.”

 

Case Study: Christopher’s Story

 

Christopher is in his 80s and lives alone. He lives with a variety of long term conditions which affect his mobility, and more recently has experienced dual sensory loss. He used Option 3 of SDS for several years for personal care.

 

However, after experiencing dual sensory loss the only way Christopher could communicate was by writing on a small whiteboard. He was not comfortable with technology, including mobile phones, and struggled to communicate with family, friends, and his carers, leading to two years of severe isolation. Social work informed him they could not provide any support beyond personal care.

 

After contacting a third sector organisation, Christopher was supported to use low technology solutions to help with some of his communication problems, including a synaptic tablet. With this he was able to email and call family and friends, substantially improving his mental health and reducing isolation. With communication support, both Christopher and his carers were able to learn some BSL and communicate better with each other.

 

Had communication and technology support been included in Christopher’s SDS package when he first experienced sensory loss, he would not have had two years without any ability to communicate meaningfully with people, and the ensuing social isolation and distress.

The Independent Living Fund

The Scottish Independent Living Fund was created in 2015. It is designed to support individuals who have complex disabilities to live independently.

 

The fund was closed to new applicants for a long time, but re-opened in April 2024.

 

You can apply for the fund if you meet the following Access Principles:

  • You live in Scotland.

  • You are aged 16 years or over at the time of application.

  • You access Self-Directed Support.

  • You receive a net weekly budget of at least £800 per week.

 

Applications to the Independent Living Fund are made by your local council’s social work department, on your behalf.

 

Visit the Independent Living Fund website  https://ilf.scot/ for more information on the fund and how to apply.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer

 

The information contained in this Handbook is provided for guidance purposes only. Every reasonable effort is made to make the information accurate and up to date.

 

The information does not, and is not intended to, amount to legal advice. You should not rely solely on the information in this Handbook.

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