A personal health budget (PHB) is an amount of money to support a person’s identified health and wellbeing needs, planned and agreed between the person and their local NHS Team.
At the centre of the personal health budget is a care and support plan. This sets out the agreed health and wellbeing outcomes that the individual wants to achieve, and how the budget will be spent to help them. It isn’t new money, but a different way of spending health funding to meet the needs of an individual.
Personal health budgets are a way of personalising care, based around what matters to people and their individual strengths and needs. They give disabled people and people with long term conditions more choice, control and flexibility over their healthcare.
To learn more please visit the Personalised Care pages.
- Frequently asked questions about personal health budgets
- All about personal health budgets – easy read guide
There are three types of personal health budgets:
- Notional – you would find out how much money is available and how it could be spent to meet your needs. Your NHS team will arrange the agreed care and support for you. No money changes hands.
- Third party – a different organisation holds the money for you and arranges the care and support agreed.
- Direct payment – you hold the money directly to buy the things set out in your support plan. agreed care and support. The Integrated Care Board will need to see how the money is being spent in accordance with your support plan
Personal health budgets can be offered to people who are registered with a local GP and are living in their own home. You can manage your personal health budget yourself if you or your child are eligible for:
- NHS continuing healthcare (CHC)
- Children’s continuing care
- After-care services under section 117 of the Mental Health Act or
- are referred and meet the eligibility criteria of their local wheelchair service, and people already registered with the wheelchair service, when they require a new wheelchair either through a change in clinical needs or in the condition of the current chair
Personal Health Budgets Team – Tel: 01525 624402 / Email: blmkicb.phb@nhs.net