Care minister Norman Lamb has announced the roll out of personal health budgets for around 56,000 people.
The budgets will initially be targeted at people who are already getting NHS continuing care and others who doctors and clinicians feel could benefit from them.
Mr Lamb said the Government will invest £1.5m to roll the scheme out across the country.
An independent assessment of 20 pilot personal health budget schemes found people’s quality of life improved and the number of times they had to attend hospital decreased.
‘Independent analysis has now shown that personal budgets can put people back in control of their care and make a significant difference to their quality of life,’ said Mr Lamb.
‘It’s inspiring to hear the human stories of success that these budgets have brought to people. The evaluation shows that those with the greatest needs benefit most from personal health budgets. That’s why we are giving people on NHS continuing healthcare the chance to get one first.’
