Personal Health Budgets

PHBs can pay for a wide range of items and services, including therapies, personal care and equipment, allowing more choice and control over the health services and care an individual receives, and the way he or she receives it, as long as it meets your health and wellbeing needs and have been agreed with your NHS team.

Who can have a personal health budget in South Tees?

Eligibility for a PHB is determined by national legislation, along with local health needs, financial constraints and other factors. Within South Tees, we are expanding PHBs and from April 2016 the following groups of people will be eligible to apply for one:

• Children receiving NHS continuing care (CC), including children with special educational needs and disabilities as part of their EHC plans (EHCP)
• Adults receiving NHS continuing health care
• Adults or children with a learning disability and/or autism who have complex needs or who display behaviour that challenges
• People with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
• People with Long Term Neurological Conditions
• People with Chronic pain

But we’re also looking at other areas that would benefit from PHBs.

Key points about PHBs

• NHS values still hold – no one will pay their own money to get the services they need or be denied essential treatment as a result of having a personal health budget
• Having a personal health budget does not entitle someone to more services, more expensive services, or preferential access to NHS services
• Services should be safe and effective. Using them should be a positive experience
• PHBs should help people get a service from the NHS that best suits them
• The individual should have as much control over decisions as appropriate. Support is available for people to enable them to make choices and decisions regarding their health and wellbeing
• No one will have to get their services through a PHB if they do not want to

 Personal Wheelchair Budgets (PWBs)

We are also in the early stages of developing a Personal Wheelchair Budgets offer, which will allow people with long-term wheelchair needs to have greater choice and control over their wheelchair provision. This will operate in a similar way to Personal Health Budgets. More information is available on NHS England’s website.