Department of Health and Social Care
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New study to examine benefits of Personal Health Budgets
Twenty sites across England have been selected to participate in a study to identify the benefits of Personal Budgets for health and the patient groups who will benefit most from them, Health Minister Phil Hope announced today.
Earlier this year the Government pledged its commitment to creating a more personalised and responsive NHS by selecting 70 sites across England to pilot personal health budgets. The budgets give patients the freedom to choose the support services they want for themselves or a family member.
The announcement comes as Phil Hope visits a pilot site in Torbay, one of the sites selected for the detailed evaluation. During the visit, he will meet staff and patients to hear how they have benefited from social care personal budgets to purchase care that better meets their individual needs, and how they could benefit from personal health budgets.
Phil Hope said:
“Personal health budgets are an innovative new policy, this study will help us to understand the benefits and limitations of Personal Health Budgets and ensure that they provide the maximum possible benefits to as many patients as possible.
“During the consultation for the Next Stage Review, people said clearly and consistently that they want a greater degree of control and influence over their health and healthcare.
“The introduction of personal health budgets will support the cultural change needed to create a more personalised NHS. They have the potential to improve the quality of patient experience and the effectiveness of care by giving individuals as much control over their healthcare as is appropriate for them.”
The study will be conducted through a partnership between three existing research teams at three institutions including the University of Kent.
Professor Julien Forder lead researcher at the University of Kent said:
“The evaluation team sends their best wishes to everyone who is involved in the piloting of personal health budgets. This is an exciting opportunity to assess if giving patients more control over their health care in this way provides better outcomes.
“We look forward to learning from patients, staff and managers in the pilot Trusts.”
The full evaluation will last three years, with newsletters, research summaries and interim reports made available online.
Notes to editors
NOTES TO EDITORS
CASE STUDY
1. A number of case studies demonstrating how Personal Health Budgets are already transforming the lives of patients with long-term conditions and their families are available for interview. An example is provided below, this has been anonymised, please speak to the Department of Health Newsdesk (see below) if you would like to speak to a patient who has benefited from a personal budget.
Patient N
N has multiple sclerosis a number of years ago. He lives with his partner of many years who is also his main career. They are keen to remain as a couple living in their own bungalow but his partner struggled to move N between his wheelchair and bed. This was further complicated by her heart condition.
The ‘usual’ solution offered by the NHS was to provide a hospital bed to the patients home and for social services to provide a package of homecare. However N and his partner felt that Homecare would be impersonal a “hospital bed” too institutional and more importantly it would rob them of the opportunity to sleep “together”.
A Personal Health Budget has been used to provide a more creative and longer lasting solution. The couple have used their budget to purchase a tailor made bed for N. The bed, which includes all the features of standard hospital bed, also has additional features including the ability to separate into individual single beds and hoist access making it much easier to manage bed transfers.
The bed was recently delivered and N commented after the first night that it was, “the first morning in some significant time that I woke up without pain”. N has experienced a reduction in lower limb spasm and his carer feels far more reassured that N is safe and secure whilst in bed, as well as protecting her health and well being now that she does not have to lift N in and out of bed.
- It is hoped that Personal Health Budgets will improve the quality of care patients experience and its effectiveness by giving individuals as much control over their healthcare as is appropriate for them. They have been introduced following their successful use for patients receiving social care.
- The research will be undertaken by:
- the Personal Social Services Research Unit (PSSRU) at the University of Kent who will be in overall management of the programme
- The Social Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of York
- Imperial College London.
- Care Services minister will be attending the Occupational Therapy Enabling Kitchen at Paignton Hospital, from 11.30am. Media wishing to attend should contact Simon Blackburn, Head of Communications, Torbay Care Trust, 01803 210511
- Further questions about today’s announcement should be addressed to the Department of Health Newsdesk on (020) 7210 5221
- The sites participating in the in-depth evaluation are:
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SHA area |
Pilot Sites |
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East Midlands |
1. Northamptonshire 2. Nottingham City |
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East of England |
3. Bedfordshire or North East Essex 4. Norfolk |
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London |
5. Barking & Dagenham 6. Havering 7. West London (joint bid - Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster) |
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North East |
8. Hartlepool & Stockton-on-Tees (bids now joined) |
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North West |
9. Manchester 10. Merseyside (joint bid across Sefton, Liverpool and Knowsley), |
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South Central |
11. Oxfordshire |
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South East Coast |
12. Eastern and Coastal Kent 13. Medway |
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South West |
14. Avon, Gloucester, Wiltshire and Somerset cardiac and stroke network 15. Dorset 16. Torbay |
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West Midlands |
17. Birmingham Health and Wellbeing Partnership (Birmingham East and North PCT and South Birmingham PCT) 18. Stoke |
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Yorkshire and Humber |
19. Doncaster 20. Hull |
