Personalised health and care services
In January 2009, the Department of Health issued guidance to health service commissioners in England to encourage the development of care planning based on the needs of the individual.
The intention to promote more personalised health and care services that will help people with long-term conditions, such as MS, to manage their condition better.
The guidance identifies the benefits of improved personalised care planning as:
- stimulating genuine choices for individuals
- promoting a more planned, proactive approach to health and social care services
- promoting independence and allowing people to achieve goals such as remaining in, or returning to work
- reducing health inequalities by standardizing care across the country
This guidance follows the publication of the Health Bill on 16 January of the intention to introduce personal health budgets that will give users of NHS services in England more control of their own care.
Health Select Committee report
The guidance was published shortly after a report into the Next Stage by the Health Select Committee had criticised the lack of expertise in primary care trusts (PCTs) in commissioning services.
Raising concerns about analytical and planning skills within PCTs and the variable quality of their management, the Health Select Committee's report says, "we have concerns about the implementation of the report, which will be the responsibility of PCTs, because we doubt that most PCTs are currently capable of doing the task successfully."
The MS Trust is all too aware of the lack of expertise in PCTs in commissioning services for MS - a condition where the individuals needs will vary over time and will not follow a predictable path. To help with this problem, we have produced the MS Commissioning Pathway to simplify the process and enable PCTs to provide effective MS services.
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