Back to all work

Personalised healthcare and personal health budgets

Montage - two people giving each other a high five; and a gym instructor supporting a woman

Realising the ambitions of the 10-Year Health Plan

The 10-Year Health Plan recommitted to the continued expansion of Personal Health Budgets (PHBs), to support the delivery of personalised care that helps people live good lives.

“Expanding personalised, patient-centred care – through the Neighbourhood Health Service – and meeting the new target of offering 1 million personal health budgets by 2030, with a universal offer for everyone who could benefit by 2035.”

Our work and partnerships support this 10-Year Health Plan ambition.

Impact of Personal Health Budgets on people's lives

In the video below, Louise shares her life-changing experiences of using a Personal Health Budget.

Gill shares how a Personal Health Budget changed her family’s life.

Personal Health Budgets - engagement, exploration and recommendation

Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Commissioning Board (ICB)

Community Catalysts, commissioned by National Health Service England (NHSE) Northwest Personalisation and Community Services Team designed and delivered a project to:

  • Explore the use of Personal Health Budgets in Cheshire and Merseyside
  • Identify opportunities and challenges
  • Work with ICB professionals to build their knowledge, skills and confidence

The project focused on Personal Health Budgets for people eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare and children and young people’s Continuing Care. Community Catalysts worked with people in Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board and people who have personal experience of these issues.

We:

  • Learned about local policies and processes and how they should work
  • Took steps to understand PHB processes in theory
  • Learned about how money is spent and looked at other related useful data

We captured the stories of people directly and via NHS and third sector partners. Some were recorded at a stakeholder day in Warrington for those with a role or interest in Personal Health Budgets.

Our exploration resulted in:

  • A short report that detailed challenges and opportunities and made recommendations of value to the region and more widely
  • An event to share the findings and recommendations

A new local PHB web page sharing resources, local policies, videos and answers to questions is emerging as valuable resource for clinicians, professionals and people considering a PHB.

Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber ICBs

Community Catalysts, commissioned by National Health Service England (NHSE) Northeast, Yorkshire and Humber Personalisation and Community Services Team designed and delivered a project in three ICB areas.

We worked with Personal Health Budget leads and clinicians in Sunderland and South Tyneside and Wakefield to:

  • Understand PHB system and processes locally
  • Make recommendations for actions to increase PHB take up and impact

In Sunderland and South Tyneside, we also designed and delivered PHB workshops for clinicians and other professionals.

Coalition for Personalised Care

We hosted the Coalition for Personalised Care (C4PC) until it transitioned to an independent charity in 2025. C4PC is a movement of people with lived experience of health care and their representative bodies, health providers, and commissioners. We were instrumental in the growth of its membership, profile and the development of the movement in its early stages, enabling its launch as a charity.

PHB Networks for ICB professionals

Between 2023 and 2025, we worked in partnership with the NHS North East and Yorkshire Personalised Care team to design, organise and facilitate a series of Personal Health Budget (PHB) webinars and peer learning networks.

We facilitated two dedicated networks focused on:

  • Continuing Healthcare Personal Health Budgets
  • Mental Health, Learning Disability and Autism Personal Health Budgets

These networks brought together professionals from across health and care systems to share learning, explore challenges and develop approaches that put people at the centre of planning and support.

Across a programme of peer learning events, nearly 300 participants took part in open discussions, shared examples of good practice and learned from one another’s experiences.

As the networks developed, the focus broadened to explore personalised care approaches. Sessions were opened up nationally, creating opportunities for colleagues across England to connect, collaborate and share innovation. Topics included one-off Personal Health Budgets, PHBs for end-of-life care, and personalised care approaches in secondary care.

To ensure learning was accessible beyond the events themselves, resources and recordings were shared through the NHS Futures platform, creating an ongoing resource for practitioners and system leaders.

Through this work we have created spaces where people can learn together, build confidence, challenge assumptions and develop practical approaches to delivering more creative, flexible and PHBs.

Building knowledge, skills and confidence

Workshops in Cheshire and Merseyside

Building on the initial report and recommendations, Community Catalysts worked with Cheshire and Merseyside ICB to design and deliver a series of workshops. Sessions were aimed at local clinicians and practitioners.

Each workshop ran online on two occasions – over 100 delegates took up places and feedback was extremely positive.

Big Conversations on health and wellbeing

Calderdale Public Health

Calderdale Council, NHS and voluntary and community groups developed a vision for integrated health and wellbeing support for adults. They commissioned Community Catalysts to undertake conversations and codesign on this vision with people who live and work in Calderdale. Partnership and coproduction, citizens and communities were at the heart of this initiative. Read more.