Direct payments - transition to adult services and needs fall between two services

Sem

My daughter has a social care transition worker, and after an assessment, we were informed that we could apply for direct payments to fund a personal trainer with experience in cerebral palsy to work with her at the gym. I found a suitable trainer, but now we’ve been told that this is considered a healthcare need, not a social care need.

I explained that if she cannot manage her own healthcare needs, it will impact her social care needs. Managing her physiotherapy will help her maintain the ability to get from A to B, keep herself safe (as she has frequent falls), and, more importantly, allow her to become part of a community, which directly supports her social care needs.

As a parent, I have been managing her PT and OT, but now that she’s 18, she prefers to go to a gym rather than continue these activities at home. They are willing to pay for a PA, but unless I can find a PA with physiotherapy experience, we are at an dead end. Also my daughter doesn't want another person to accompany her she is capability of doing this part herself.

Has anyone else encountered this situation? Any advice or options would be greatly appreciated.

Richard_Scope

Hi @Sem

Thanks for your post. Unfortunately, this situation is becoming more common as budgets are squeezed on both sides. This toing and froing does not help the people who need the support!

You will need to speak to the social transition caseworker again and ask for a Continuing Healthcare assessment. What the transition worker should have done is completed a Continuing Healthcare checklist with your daughter, to identify her eligibility for funding from that stream. The problem with Continuing Healthcare is that their benchmark for funding is high. You would need to demonstrate a significant need.