RCN expresses concern about personal health budgets

Published: 30 November 2012

A system which may put pressure on patients to “top-up” their care needs careful consideration, the Royal College of Nursing has said, as the Government announced the roll out of personal health budgets in England.

The Department of Health describes a personal health budget as an amount of money given to someone with a long term condition, to help them design a package of care support from clinicians and others.

RCN Chief Executive & General Secretary Dr Peter Carter said:

“While we are not opposed to people being given a choice in how their care is provided and by who, we still believe that there may be unintended consequences caused by the extension of the use of personal health budgets. Following the recent pilots and assessment, the RCN still has a number of concerns about their implementation.”

The RCN is concerned that providing these budgets may exacerbate inequalities by giving the best care to those able to argue for it, while placing vulnerable people at risk.

“The priority for the NHS should be to provide the care that is needed to all its patients, and the move to personal health budgets could prove a costly distraction from that important aim,” added Dr Carter.