Personalised care and Personal Health Budgets
Helping organisations use Personal Health Budgets (PHBs) and personalised care to reduce pressure on services while giving people genuine choice and control.
At Co Production & Me, I support health and social care partners to design and implement PHBs and personalised care models that respond to the wider social determinants of health, not just clinical need.
This work is particularly useful for:
- NHS Trusts and hospital discharge / admission‑avoidance teams
- Community and crisis mental health services
- Local Authorities and adult social care teams
- ICBs and VCSE partners seeking joined‑up, preventative support
The focus is on making PHBs safe, practical and meaningful for both people and staff.
What this programme is
Personal Health Budgets give people greater choice and control over how some of their health and care budget is spent.
One‑off PHBs, notional budgets and third‑party managed budgets can help at key transition points, such as hospital discharge or crisis support, without needing to redesign the whole system.
This programme helps organisations:
- Implement one‑off PHBs to support hospital avoidance, quicker discharge or crisis‑prevention
- Develop notional PHB models within NHS Trusts so budgets stay with the organisation but are used flexibly
- Create linked health and social care personalised pathways so people do not lose choice, continuity or control when moving between services
- Build trauma‑informed, neuro-inclusive and co‑produced processes that reduce risk and increase trust
Rather than just “spending PHB money”, we focus on turning funding into personalised, safe support that reflects what actually matters to the person.
How it works
The exact shape of this work depends on your context, but it usually falls into four strands:
2. Designing and co‑producing PHB pathways
We co‑design:
How people are identified for PHB support.
How conversations are held so they feel safe, clear and meaningful.
How budgets are allocated (third‑party, notional, or blended) and how they link into existing pathways (discharge, crisis, community).
We embed co‑production so that people, families and staff shape how the budget is used, not just receive a pre‑set “offer”.
1. Clarifying the purpose and scope
We explore:
- What you want to achieve with PHBs (e.g. reduce long stays, support early discharge, improve community placements).
- Which groups or pathways you want to focus on (e.g. complex discharge, repeated admissions, long‑term community support).
- How this fits with existing Quality Improvement, Culture of Care or Transformation plans.
This step helps you decide whether you need one‑off budgets, notional budgets, or a mix of both.
2. Designing and co‑producing PHB pathways
We co‑design:
- How people are identified for PHB support
- How conversations are held so they feel safe, clear and meaningful
- How budgets are allocated (third‑party, notional, or blended) and how they link into existing pathways (discharge, crisis, community)
We embed co‑production so that people, families and staff shape how the budget is used, not just receive a pre‑set “offer”.
3. Creating safe, practical governance
We help you:
- Design clear local policies and guidance for PHBs
- Establish proportionate governance that reduces risk‑avoidance and supports creativity
- Integrate PHB processes into wider safeguarding, finance and risk‑management frameworks
This gives staff the confidence to use PHBs in a way that is both person‑centred and organisationally robust.
4. Supporting implementation and evaluation
We support:
- Staff training and practice‑based examples so teams feel comfortable using PHBs
- Practical tools (checklists, templates, decision‑aids) that sit alongside existing workflows
A simple evaluation plan so you can capture:
- How PHBs affect individual experience
- Whether they reduce admissions, readmissions or delayed discharges
- How staff confidence and culture change over time
This helps you demonstrate value to boards, ICBs, and regulators.
Types of PHB and personalised care work
Depending on your system, you can use this programme in a few ways:
One‑off PHBs
Short‑term, time‑limited budgets to support a specific goal (e.g. avoid hospital admission, return home earlier, prevent crisis).
Often used when statutory services are delayed, thresholds are not met, or traditional pathways do not fit the person’s needs.
Can support:
- Practical support at home
- Short‑term care or assistance
- Equipment, adaptations or community, social or wellbeing support
- Culturally appropriate or identity‑based solutions
Notional PHB models within NHS Trusts
Budgets that stay with the Trust but can be used flexibly in care plans.
Useful for community teams, crisis services or hospital discharge teams that want more creative options without full direct‑payment arrangements.
Helps teams respond to wider social and practical needs (housing, community connection, short‑term stability) in a structured way.
Third‑party managed PHBs
Budgets held and managed by a partner organisation (e.g. VCSE or specialist provider) on behalf of the individual.
Helpful where people find managing complex processes distressing or overwhelming.
Reduces administrative burden for individuals and staff while still promoting choice and control.
Linked health and social care personalised pathways
- Seamless transitions between health‑based PHBs and adult social care personalised support
- Ensures people do not lose choice, continuity or control when moving between settings
- Supports long‑term independence rather than repeated crisis‑response patterns
What organisations can expect
When you work with me on Personalised care and PHBs, you can expect:
- A clear, practical framework for how PHBs can fit into your existing services and priorities
- Co‑produced design so that people, staff and partners feel the approach is fair and workable
- Risk‑aware but not risk‑avoidant processes that support staff confidence
- Evidence and evaluation support that shows impact for people and services (e.g. fewer admissions, clearer discharge plans, more joined‑up working)
- A focus on trauma‑informed, culturally responsive and neuroinclusive thinking throughout the design
Example of this kind of work
This approach has been used in:
- A combined health and social care system introducing one‑off PHBs to support people with complex needs, repeated hospital admissions and instability in the community.
- We designed end‑to‑end pathways from referral through to review, embedding co‑production so people and families shaped how budgets were used.
- We supported clinicians and care coordinators to build personalised care plans and helped develop governance frameworks covering risk, finance, safeguarding and outcomes.
- The work reduced pressure on inpatient beds, improved confidence in discharge planning, and supported more stable community placements.
- A larger NHS Trust exploring notional PHB models for community and hospital discharge teams.
- We co‑produced governance and frontline tools so staff felt confident using PHBs safely and creatively.
- The Trust was able to align PHB‑linked planning with existing Quality Improvement and service‑transformation priorities.
How to get started
If you are exploring how Personal Health Budgets or personalised care could fit into your hospital, community, crisis or social care pathways, I’d welcome a conversation.
Below is a evaluation from six months of the pilot launched in Bradford District and Craven.