Clients missing out on direct payments

Ill-informed care managers are restricting the uptake of direct
payments by clients, a report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation has
found.

It found that demand for direct payments was related to the quality
and accessibility of information. But as this is often provided by
care managers, a lack of knowledge on their part was affecting
uptake.

Only 9,600 people received direct payments in 2002-3, although this
was up 53 per cent on 2001-2.

Researchers also found that the payments had failed to become part
of care management culture because “mindsets were largely geared
towards mainstream services”. 

– From www.jrf.org.uk