NHS Western Cheshire - North West SHA

Key focus/scope

The NHS Western Cheshire pilot is in partnership with Cheshire West and Chester Council and Cheshire Centre for Independent Living. It will focus on people with continuing health care needs.

Overview of pilot and its purpose

The pilot aims to implement the personal health budget programme with a small number of people who are in receipt of continuing healthcare. The pilot aims to ensure that people are able to call upon a predefined level of resources and to use these flexibly in order to meet their identified health needs and outcomes.

Personal health budgets increase people's choice and control, that is they are able to have what is important for them (their health need outcomes) delivered in ways that are important to them (their preferred choices). Personalised support planning with direct involvement of the person and their carers together with health professionals is key to the process.

Objectives of pilot

The pilot aims to:

• develop a system and support framework through which people can be offered a personal health budget
• learn from personalisation workstreams in social care and align the personal health budgets process as closely as possible
• ensure people, their families and carers receive independent advice and support from experienced third sector experts
• promote choice, flexibility and control for people and their carers
• evaluate effectiveness and adapt processes to improve the patient experience and effectiveness of personal health budgets
• develop care plans and reviews that will help to deliver people's aspirations and goals

This information has been provided by NHS Western Cheshire.