New research suggests health services do not give people adequate control of their own health and care.

A new report by National Voices, a coalition of over 160 health and care charities, has studied the key dimensions of ‘person-centred care’ as reported by patients and service users.

It found just 3% of people with one or more long term conditions had a written plan for their care and support, and just 56% of hospital inpatients said they were definitely as involved as they wanted to be in decisions.

The report, entitled Person-centred care in 2017, also found that despite an increased emphasis on ‘integrated care’, 46% of inpatients said they did not get enough further support to recover or manage their condition after leaving hospital.

It also found family involvement in a person’s care was not seen as central and warned carers were not receiving enough support. Less than a quarter of carers (23%) reported having had a social care assessment.

The report collated patient and service user reported data from 19 England-wide surveys, and focuses on information, communication, involvement in decisions, care planning and care coordination.

Responding to the findings, Glen Garrod, vice president of the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS), said: ‘For anyone in need of social care they should expect to be actively involved in deciding how any funding is managed and how best to spend it to meet their needs and achieve their agreed outcomes.

‘However, progress on delivering personalised care and support can be compromised by acute pressures on council budgets.’