Personal health budgets are a new way of giving patients more control and choice over their healthcare.

A personal health budget is an amount of money that is spent on meeting the healthcare and wellbeing needs of people, generally those with a long term illness or disability.

Because personal health budges are a new idea, they are being trialled by the Department of Health. The Department of Health is running the personal health budgets pilot programme with over half the Primary Care Trusts (PCT) in the country.

In London there are seven personal health budget pilot sites, covering nine PCTs.

NHS London is supporting the London pilot sites and introducing personal health budgets and related ideas to NHS organisations across the capital.

Who can have a personal health budget?

Personal health budgets are currently being trialled at a number of PCTs as part of the national personal health budgets programme.

The personal health programme will be evaluated and the evaluation report is due to be published in October 2012.

As personal health budgets are currently being piloted, the PCTs can only offer them to a limited number of people in those areas.

Following current pilots, the Government will make it a priority to extend personal health budgets across health and social care.