Extra funds have been made available to support the potential roll out of personal health budgets, allowing patients to help choose their own care.
Announcing the £1.5m funding pot at the Autumn Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton yesterday (Tuesday 25th September 2012), Care Services Minister Norman Lamb said the money will allow the personal health budgets scheme to be on the “front foot” when pilot findings are revealed.
A pilot programme involving over 60 PCTs is currently underway across the country to understand how personal health budgets can benefit those who need them most, what they could be spent on and how best they should be implemented.
Pilot findings are due sometime in the autumn.
“We want to ensure more care is tailored around people’s individual needs and preferences,” said Lamb.
“Giving those with complex health needs the control of how to spend money on their care gives them and their doctors the flexibility to try innovative new approaches to achieve better health outcomes.
“Subject to the results of the current pilot programme, our aim is to introduce a right to a personal health budget for people who would benefit from them most – the scale and pace of this will be informed by the independent evaluation.
“We want to be on the front foot as the results become known – that is why we’ve identified £1.5m to support the NHS in the first stage of the roll-out as it starts to implement personal health budgets.”
Under the scheme, a personal health budget centres around a care plan which sets out the individuals’ needs or desired health outcomes, the amount of money in their budget, and how this will be spent.
A pilot programme involving over 60 PCTs is currently underway across the country to understand how personal health budgets can benefit those who need them most, what they could be spent on and how best they should be implemented.
Pilot findings are due sometime in the autumn.
“We want to ensure more care is tailored around people’s individual needs and preferences,” said Lamb.
“Giving those with complex health needs the control of how to spend money on their care gives them and their doctors the flexibility to try innovative new approaches to achieve better health outcomes.
“Subject to the results of the current pilot programme, our aim is to introduce a right to a personal health budget for people who would benefit from them most – the scale and pace of this will be informed by the independent evaluation.
“We want to be on the front foot as the results become known – that is why we’ve identified £1.5m to support the NHS in the first stage of the roll-out as it starts to implement personal health budgets.”
Under the scheme, a personal health budget centres around a care plan which sets out the individuals’ needs or desired health outcomes, the amount of money in their budget, and how this will be spent.
