On Friday 6 April, The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England launched a joint consultation on extending the legal rights to have a personal health budget or integrated personal budget.

As part of a national drive to personalise health and social care services and provide people with more choice and control, the Government and NHS England are asking for views on proposals to extend existing legal rights to have a personal health budget or, where appropriate, an integrated budget to:

• People with ongoing social care needs, who also make regular and ongoing use of relevant NHS services
• People eligible for Section 117 aftercare services, and people of all ages with ongoing mental health needs who make regular and ongoing use of community based NHS mental health services
• People leaving the Armed Forces, who are eligible for ongoing NHS services
• People with a learning disability, autism or both, who are eligible for ongoing NHS care
• People who access wheelchair services whose posture and mobility needs impact their wider health and social care needs.

The consultation also seeks views on whether people who have a right to a personal health budget should have the right to receive this as a direct payment, and welcomes views on additional funding streams that could be incorporated into integrated budgets.

It follows the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s speech on social care reform last month and is open until Friday 8 June 2018. To view the speech, click here.

To take part in the consultation, click here.