New report shows personal health budgets transforming lives and supporting NHS ambitions across Cheshire and Merseyside
Monday, 3 November 2025
A new report published today (Monday 3 November) highlights how personal health budgets (PHBs) for continuing healthcare and children’s continuing care are improving lives, helping to meet the NHS’s goal of making care more personalised and sustainable, and are a cost-effective option.
A personal health budget is money from the NHS that helps pay for a person’s health and wellbeing needs, giving them more control over their healthcare and support in a way that works best for them.
The report – Growing Personal Health Budget Take-Up and Impact in Cheshire and Merseyside – explores how PHBs improve people’s experience and quality of life by giving them more choice and control over how their care and support is structured and delivered. It demonstrates the benefits of PHBs to both patients and families and how they deliver value for money for the NHS.
Commissioned by the NHS England North West Personalisation and Community Services Team and delivered by Community Catalysts CIC, the report includes examples of strong local practice through the stories, experiences and ideas of people who have a PHB and their families, third sector support organisations and health professionals.
The 10 Year Health Plan for England sets a new target for the NHS to at least double the number of people offered a PHB by 2028/29, and offer one million people a PHB by 2030. The insights and recommendations from the report on PHBs in Cheshire and Merseyside aim to support other areas in the North West and beyond to meet these new ambitious targets.
Dave Sweeney, Associate Director of Partnerships and Sustainability at NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, said:
“This report demonstrates the real difference personal health budgets are making to people’s lives across our region. When individuals have genuine choice and control over their care, the results are transformative – for their wellbeing, independence and for the NHS as a whole.
“Cheshire and Merseyside is proud to be leading the way nationally, and we’re committed to building on this success to ensure every person who could benefit from a PHB has the opportunity to do so.”
Jill Wighton, on behalf of Community Catalysts CIC, added:
“We’ve seen first-hand how personal health budgets enable people to live the lives they want – whether that’s by employing trusted personal assistants, accessing wellbeing activities, or blending health and social care creatively.
“Our work with NHS Cheshire and Merseyside shows what’s possible when health and care systems, voluntary organisations and individuals collaborate to deliver the very best for local people.”
To read the report and find out more about personal health budgets, visit the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside website.