While away from home

Hospital stays

While you are in receipt of a direct payment, you may have to stay in hospital. This does not mean the direct payment should cease. For example, you may prefer some personal care tasks to be undertaken by the carer rather than hospital staff. However, the personal care should not interfere with the medical treatment.

We recognise that terminating the carer’s employment may lead to care not being available on discharge, or a delay in discharge. Where you have had a long relationship with the personal assistant, it may be important to maintain this.

Where the nominated or authorised person requires hospital treatment, we will conduct a review to ensure you continue to receive the care and support you need. This might include the duties to be carried out by a temporary nominated or authorised person, or through short-term council arranged care/support.

If you are in hospital and/or receive reablement services for eight weeks or more, a review will take place. Payments may be reduced if you are due to remain in hospital for a long period of time. We will consider contractual agreements with your personal assistants to ensure care continues when you are discharged from hospital.

Upon imminent discharge from hospital, a review of your care and support needs will be undertaken by Haringey Council. We will ensure that an appropriate support plan is in place before you return home. Your direct payment may be reinstated if it was temporarily ceased or reduced, provided you continue to meet the eligibility criteria.

Respite care

A direct payment cannot be used to fund a long-term stay in a care home.

The amount of respite care a cared-for person may be offered will depend on their individually assessed needs and circumstances.

Where an adult user, or an unpaid carer on the user's behalf, requests accommodation based respite of longer than eight weeks duration, the council's top-up policy may be applied and the council may agree to contribute to the costs of the respite care being requested.

The need for respite care will be considered whenever care needs are reviewed or reassessed. This will happen at an annual review or because needs or circumstances change.

Support while staying outside of the UK

If you need care whilst you are abroad, you can take your regular carer or PA, but you must pay for their travel expenses and accommodation and not use the direct payment funds..

You can contact a care agency in the country you are travelling to. You will need to find out if the country has a system for regulating social care equivalent to the CQC in England, and ensure the provider fully complies with this.

Direct payments while abroad will generally not be paid for more than four weeks in any one calendar year. It is the individual's responsibility to advise the council of going abroad. Failure to return home on the expected date will generally result in the suspension and possible termination of the direct payment, requiring a reassessment of need. Any overpaid direct payment funds will also generally be reclaimed from you.