Service questions

When can I have supports?

Suitsme operates from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, 7 days a week.

If you have core support funding, you can book a worker any time during Suitsme’s operating hours.

If you have capacity building funding, you can book a worker on weekdays.

How long can a shift be?

A shift must be at least 2 hours and can’t be more than 10 hours.

You can have more than 10 hours support in one day, but the time would need to be split between two workers.

What “service” should I book?

The services that appear in your list are the services that are funded in your NDIS plan and you have allocated to Suitsme.

Often you will only have one service in your list.
If you have more than one, choose the service that most closely matches what you want to do that day.
If none of the services seem to match, or you don’t know what you want to do that day, then you can choose whatever service you like.

What if I want my worker to stay longer?

If they are available, then your worker can stay longer. Workers can update the session start and end times when they complete the session. You will get a summary of what they entered so you can check that they have done this correctly.

Do I have to pay the worker’s expenses?

It’s quite likely that workers will incur expenses while supporting you, for example entry costs. The worker wouldn’t be paying for this if they weren’t supporting you, so we think it is fair that you cover this cost for them.

You may be eligible for a companion card which will cover some of these costs so neither you nor the worker have to pay. You can find out more about the companion card here.

If you want help to apply for a companion card, why not add it to your goal and your worker can help you with it?

The other expense that comes up a lot is food and drinks. There’re no hard and fast rules around this, it’s something you and the worker can negotiate.

Let’s look at a few scenarios:

You are getting a coffee at the coffee shop; your worker buys their own coffee to enjoy with you.
You are getting lunch at a food court; your worker sits with you and has a sandwich they brought from home.
You are getting a coffee at the coffee shop; you buy your worker a coffee so you can enjoy a coffee together.

Any of these scenarios are fine, as long as you are comfortable with what’s happening. If you are not comfortable with it, either talk to your worker about it, or contact Suitsme so we can assist.

Do staff write notes about me?

Sometimes.

Suitsme workers don’t write “case notes”. There are two different types of information that workers record.

Incidents and concerns – If an incident occurs or the worker is concerned about you, the worker will record this in the app. Suitsme management will follow this up and may update your profile if required.
Completed Session – This is mostly an administrative process where workers enter how long a shift went for and any travel and transport details. You get sent a summary of this once completed and if it seems wrong you can contact Suitsme to get it fixed.

Can I have staff do things for me, without me there?

We love having you as a client but together, we are working towards your independence so that you don’t need Suitsme anymore. If staff do things for you it can make you more dependent on staff and you move backwards in your recovery journey.

Staff can do little things for you but generally they do things with you. So, for example, staff could post a letter for you if you are not well, but staff couldn’t do your gardening for you while you go see a movie.

We call this an indirect support and in some situations (for example, during a COVID-19 lockdown) workers can do more indirect support if it is helpful to you. Suitsme charges your funding for indirect supports.

Can I book support beyond my current plan?

Yes. Two weeks prior to your plan review date, the app will automatically start allowing you to make bookings for up to a month beyond your plan review date.

We appreciate that as your plan review date approaches it can be a bit of a stressful time. You have your next planning meeting to prepare for and you want to lock in your regular worker. Suitsme has built in some contingencies that will allow you to keep booking beyond your current plan. To make this work we basically assume your next plan will be the same as your current plan and set that up in the background of the app. Then, once you get your new plan, we’ll chat with you and make sure everything is set up correctly.

How can we help?