4 December 2012
RCGP Response to Government Announcement on Personal Health Budgets
RCGP Chair offers response
RCGP Chair Dr Clare Gerada said:
"Personal health budgets, used in the right circumstances, have the potential to improve patient care and deliver care tailored to patient needs. They can help improve shared decision making and can provide patients with the opportunity to access different services that are better suited to their personal circumstances. But these benefits will be lost, unless they are introduced in the right way.
"The RCGP welcomes the approach of a gradual rollout but urges the Government to proceed with caution and to guard against using personal health budgets as a way of cutting costs in healthcare and services or of introducing 'capped' budgets. The principle of care being free at the point of use and according to need must be at the heart of the new regulations around their rollout ."
Further Information
RCGP Press office - 020 3188 7574/7575/7576
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 44,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.