The roll out of personal health budgets should be halted until the scheme’s risks have been properly mitigated, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has warned.
In a letter to Health Minister Paul Burstow, the RCGP has asked him to address a number of perceived risks associated with personal health budgets before implementation begins in October this year.
The college has raised concerns about the lack of management over the impact of personal health budgets on CCG costs and has questioned whether the scheme could give rise to new health inequalities.
The roll out of personal health budgets should be halted until the scheme’s risks have been properly mitigated, the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) has warned.
In a letter to Health Minister Paul Burstow, the RCGP has asked him to address a number of perceived risks associated with personal health budgets before implementation begins in October this year.
The college has raised concerns about the lack of management over the impact of personal health budgets on CCG costs and has questioned whether the scheme could give rise to new health inequalities.
It has recommended that GPs should review all personal health budget care plans and has also called on commissioners to put in place “sufficient resources” to support the care planning process.
“We believe very strongly in the importance of each patient having personalised care and an opportunity to be involved in making decisions in partnership with their GP,” said Nigel Mathers, RCGP Vice-Chair.
“Personal health budgets could potentially realise great benefits for our patients – but we want the government to work with us to ensure that it gets the policy framework for implementation right and that the lessons from the pilot sites are learnt. We also need to be convinced that any potential risks have been mitigated.”
Despite its concerns, the RCGP has expressed interest in working with the government to finalise the roll out of personal health budgets.
