Helpful tips

Helpful tips for choosing a PHB Support Service Provider to work with from the PHB Support Services Directory.

1. Before you contact PHB Support Service Providers, please ensure that you have received your:

• ICB Care Plan (based on the ICB eligibility assessment) or Personalised Care and Support Plan, if you have one that was created in the last 2 years.
• ICB letter indicating your PHB eligibility.
• Indicative Budget (weekly amount of your PHB to pay for care, support and PHB management costs).
• Guidance on how to use the online PHB Support Services Directory.

The PHB Support Service Provider you choose to work with  will ask for a copy of this from you. If you do not have the above, please contact the PHB Holder’s Case Manager.

2. Before you call the PHB Support Services Providers you are interested in working with, think about what professional qualities and values they must have.

To help you consider this, think about a time where you have worked with a service, and it has gone well, and when it has not gone well, and record what your reasons were for this.   

This will help you work out what professional qualities and values you want to see in the PHB Support Service Provider you choose to work with.  This should help you to reach a decision about which PHB Support Service Provider will be best suited to work with you.

3. Make two lists. One list will be for the PHB Support Services Providers who you are interested in working with.  A minimum of three providers to contact is good, so you can compare services. The second list is the questions that you will ask the PHB Support Services Providers.

Here are a few questions you might want to ask:

• What experience does your service have?
• What makes your service different from other providers?
• How long will it take for the service to be set up?
• Will I have a named person who I will work with to set up the service and to answer my questions?
• Do you have any recorded feedback from people with complex health needs who have worked with your service, and if so could I see it?
• How much does the service cost?
• Are there any hidden extra costs that I need to be aware of?
• When does your service need to receive payment and how is this done? (the ICB recommend all PHB Support Service Provider payments are made from the Direct Payment/Third Party Budget accounts. No cash payments are allowed. If you have a managed account, your Money Management Service Provider will help you to make payments to the PHB Support Service Provider.  Payment for a PHB Support Service Provider should not be paid until 28 days after the service is fully delivered and you have enough money in your Direct Payment account to pay for the service).
• How much notice is required to cancel meetings?
• Does your service use a Checklist to guide the set-up of services?
• Does your service use an Engagement Log to record when meetings are held and for how long?
• Does your service use a Working Together Action Plan, to record the actions of meetings/discussions held.
• What will I expect to receive when working with the service, so I know that everything is running well?
• If I am concerned about the service I am receiving, what should I do?
• If I was interested in taking up the service, what would the next steps be?
• If a representative/carer/parent has called on behalf of a PHB Holder, you might want to ask “Would your service be open to speaking with the PHB Holder, if needed, about your service?

4. Have paper and pen or a device to write down your notes from your conversation with the PHB Support Service Provider.     Please let the PHB Support Service know if you intend to record the conversation.

5. Call the PHB Support Services. If verbally talking is challenging for you, then you might want to ask the PHB Holder’s Case Manager for an Advocate or ask the service if you can have a written conversation over email.

6. After calling the services, write another list of the positive and negative points from for each service you have spoken with.

7. Choose which PHB Support Service Provider to work with, and then contact the PHB Support Service Provider and let them know you would like to start working with them.

How to contact North Central London (NCL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) Borough

If you need to speak with a case manager about using the PHB Support Services Directory or PHB, please contact them using the details below.

Working Hours: Monday to Friday, 09:00 – 17:00 (excluding bank holidays).