3.6 Brokerage Service

1. What is Brokerage?

Brokerage supports adults with managing the care and support services they want to use. It is a person-centred approach which finds and matches providers of care and support services with the adult and the outcomes that they have identified as important to them, including their cultural needs (see Providing Culturally Appropriate Care chapter). It enables adults and their carer / representative to have more choice, independence, control and flexibility.

The Greenwich Brokerage Service works with adults to agree how their money is spent, how support will be provided and by which services. Brokers (who are members of staff in the Brokerage Service) use their experience and knowledge of local services to help adults find the best support available for to meet their needs and help them achieve maximum independence. It aims to make the process of managing budgets and services easier for the adult and / or their family.

2. Who can use Brokerage Services?

Both adults who receive local authority funding and those who have to pay for their own care and support can use the Brokerage Service.

Adults who have been assessed by the local authority as having eligible care and support needs can receive funding to buy their own care and support services (see Assessment and Eligibility chapters). If they are receiving a direct payment or a personal budget, they and the Brokerage Service choose the service that best fits their needs (see Direct Payments and Personal Budgets chapters).

Adults who are not eligible for local authority funding and have to pay for their care and support services themselves (known as self-funders) can also use brokerage services (see Self-funders chapter).

The Brokerage Service can provide one-off or ongoing support for those who need it. Sessions can be in person, on the telephone or online.

3. What the Brokerage Service does

3.1 Aims of the Brokerage Service

The Brokerage Service aims to:

• respond to each new referral;
• prioritise emergency and urgent requests, providing responses within agreed timescales to meet the adult’s needs;
• send electronic enquiries to home care agencies and collate responses;
• support adults to make the most of their financial resources, by finding and providing information about care and support available in their local area at the best or no cost, whilst providing the best value and quality;
• provide an effective and fair system that gives providers equal opportunities, as appropriate, to compete for contracts or involvement;
• provide data to service providers and commissioners to inform and support investment and future planning in services, including identifying gaps in the market and unmet need.

3.2 Role of the broker

Brokers can assist adults to:

• interview, recruit staff / personal assistants (PAs);
• supply draft contracts of employment for PAs;
• complete payroll forms and PAs timesheets;
• work with payroll / accountants;
• help ensure that any direct payments the adult is receiving are used on items approved in the care and support plan;
• keep records of how the budget is used and spent;
• open a separate bank account for direct payments only;
• liaise with insurance companies and obtain an insurance certificate in relation to employing staff;
• resolve any problems that may arise with managing local authority funding or service providers.

3.3 Different types of services available

The Brokerage Service can support adults enquiring about different types of care and support services. These include:

• activity groups;
• clubs;
• support groups;
• day care centres;
• personal care in the adult’s own home;
• short term / respite residential care;
• long term / permanent residential or nursing home care.

These services may be within the community and voluntary sector, private sector or public sector agencies. There will be different funding requirements for these services, depending on the service and the financial status of the adult.

4. Referrals

Adults who are already working with Adult Social Care can be referred by their allocated worker. .

Alternatively, the worker can give the adult or their family the contact details of the Brokerage Service, so they can make contact directly themselves if they prefer.

Adults not already known to Adult Social Care can be directed to the Brokerage Service by the Hospital Discharge Team, the Adult Front Door Team or any other Adult Social Care team.

Residents may contact the Brokerage team directly themselves.

People can also enquire about brokerage on behalf of a family member or friend. Other professionals may also refer to the Brokerage Service.

4.1 Making a referral

Staff and members of the public making a new referral to the Brokerage Service must make sure, that wherever possible, they give the Brokerage Service enough notice for new support to be sourced, chosen and set up in a planned way, with enough time for providers to carry out their own assessments with the adult before the service needs to start. These steps must be completed with the adult at the centre of the process and consulted throughout (see Personalisation chapter). The adult and their carer / representative (as appropriate) must have time to consider the information being given to them and understand the choices that are available.

Referral information should include whether the adult has mental capacity and if not, the referrer should provide contact details for the person who is supporting them in making best interests decisions (see Mental Capacity chapter).

Staff making referrals can ring the Brokerage Service in the first instance, but all telephone calls must be followed up by completed paperwork sent electronically.

4.2 Closing cases

There may be a number of reasons why an adult stops working with the Brokerage Service. These include:

• their situation has improved, and they no longer need services;
• they feel confident they can manage their involvement with services / staff without further support from the local authority;
• they move into long term / permanent care;
• the adult dies.

When the Brokerage Service is no longer working with an adult, a record should be made on their case records, including the reason why and the case should be closed, after discussion and agreement with the line manager.

5. Further Reading

5.1 Relevant chapters

Personalisation

Direct Payments

Personal Budgets

Care and Support Planning