The Government has declared its intention to begin a national roll-out of personal health budgets from October 2012.
In the next 12 months the NHS must prepare itself for the impact of this revolutionary policy if personal health budgets are to lead to a step change, rather than be a stumbling block, in English healthcare.
In August 2011, the NHS Confederation published the third in its trilogy of reports on personal health budgets, which have focused on the views of local leaders, clinicians, and service users and carers respectively.
This Briefing sets out what can be learned by putting together the views collected from all three groups, and what this means for the timetable to prepare for the roll-out of personal health budgets across the country. It includes five tests to guide and inform future debate on personal health budgets, and invites contributions to finding the solutions.