You have the right to a care that is tailored to your needs and what is most important to you. It is all about you, your health and your wellbeing. Personalised care means people have choice and control over the way their care is planned and delivered. It is based on what matters to them and their individual strengths and needs.
Providing you personalised care means, you:
are the most important person in the planning and delivery of your health and care.
are not just seen as a patient with symptoms but as a whole person with preferences, dreams and experiences.
have our (healthcare professional) support to build the confidence, knowledge and skills you need to look after your health and wellbeing.
are an equal and active partner in the decision process regarding your health and care.
With personalised care, our patients have a say in how their treatment is planned and delivered. It is based on what matters to them, putting into consideration their unique strengths and preferences. It facilitates a constructive change in decision-making and power dynamics, giving individuals a voice, a chance to be heard, and a way to connect with their communities and one another.
A whole-system approach is used in personalised care, integrating public health, social services, and other services around the individual. From pregnancy and childhood to the end of life, it offers an all-age approach that takes into account both physical and mental health and acknowledges the role and voice of carers. It acknowledges the role that communities and the non-profit and community sector play in helping people and fostering resilience.
How can social prescribers help you?
Social prescribing link workers help people through their concerns and actively listen to what is important to them. They link people to community groups and local services that offer practical (social, physical and emotional) support, giving people more control over their health and wellbeing. Usually, your GP will refer you to a social prescribing link worker but you can ask to be referred if you require their support. They also work with a wide range of individuals, including young adults, older adults, as well as those who are working or not working and retired.
Social prescribing is an all-age, whole population approach and can support people who:
- have one or more long-term condition.
- need support with their mental health concerns, including stress, anxiety and depression.
- are seeking support and guidance regarding their lifestyle changes.
- are lonely or isolated.
- have complex social needs which affect their physical health and wellbeing.
- are not confident to manage their own health and need support.
Personal health budget
A personal health budget is an amount of money from NHS funding to provide a personalised care and support plan to individuals ensuring more control and flexibility over how their identified health and wellbeing needs are met. It works in a similar way to personal budgets for social care which allow people to manage and pay for their social care needs.
Personal health budgets are flexible. They can be used to meet a variety of needs:
- for ongoing care and support to meet people’s assessed health and wellbeing needs
- for one-off budgets to support people to achieve specific goals or outcomes enabling supported self-management e.g. hospital discharge, mental health recovery
- to support children and young people with education, health and care plans aligned to expectations in the SEND Code of Practice.
Become a personalised care ambassador
As a personalised care ambassador, you will:
- become an advocate for personalised care across all health and care settings.
- spread the word and raise awareness about the importance of personalised care and its benefits to people through your own networks.
- encourage people to ask these three questions when interacting with their healthcare professional.
For more information on personalised care, please visit the NHS England website.
You can also ask the Trust personalised care team a question by sending an email to [email protected]