56 Caring for our future: reforming care and support
Empowering people to take control
Supporting people in residential care into employment
Personal budgets and direct payments are important tools to give people who use services, and carers, greater control over their care and support. However, they are not an end in themselves, but a way to achieve greater choice, control, independence and quality of life. The principle of personalised care will be embedded within the way that local authorities, care providers and care workers deliver care and support. The draft Care and Support Bill sets out a single overarching principle that care and support must promote the wellbeing of the individual. One key element of this principle is that people have control over their day-to-day lives, including over how they choose to receive their care and support.
We want to support more disabled people into employment, so that society and the economy can benefit from their skills and talents. For those using care and support in the community, income from work is exempt from charges. However, people in residential care face a barrier to employment as their earned income is taken from them under current charging rules. We will therefore change the charging system for residential care from April 2013, so that the income that people earn in employment is exempt from residential care charges. This will help to encourage those in residential care to pursue employment opportunities if they are able to do so.
Personalised care and support for people living with dementia In March 2012, the Prime Minister launched a Challenge on Dementia, which builds on the achievements of the 2009 National Dementia Strategy to push further and faster to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia and their families. As part of the work on driving improvements in health and care, a 12-point plan has been developed, setting out the key themes to enable the wider transformation of services for people with dementia and their carers, and the key delivery mechanisms and levers. The key themes include a dignified death, ensuring access to high-quality personalised end-of-life care for people with dementia, and improving people’s living environment. The plans aims to develop innovative solutions to help people and families living with dementia to stay together with the right level of personalised support.