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An introduction to personalisation.

  • Last modified date:
    18 January 2008
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Our health, our care, our say confirmed that people want support when they need it, and they expect it quickly, easily and in a way that fits into their lives.  They want adult social care services to consider their needs with a greater focus on preventative approaches to promote independence and wellbeing.

To make this happen, the social care sector needs a shared vision: personalisation, including a strategic shift towards early intervention and prevention, will be the cornerstone of public services.

This means that every person who receives support, whether provided by statutory services or funded by themselves, will be empowered to shape their own lives and the services they receive in all care settings.

Local authorities, government departments and partners from independent, voluntary, and community organisations will all play a vital role in transforming social care services, taking into account housing, benefits, leisure, transport and health needs.

An equality impact assessment for the personalisation agenda will be available in Spring 2008.

Making transformation a reality

In addition to local partners using some existing resources across the health and well-being system differently, the Department of Health will be making £520 million pounds available as a ring-fenced grant to local councils over the next three years. It also includes money from the NHS, in recognition of the positive impact investing in social care can have on people’s health.

Local Authority Circular (LAC (DH) (2008) 1) looks at what needs to be done, the vision for development of a personalised approach to the delivery of adult social care, the history and the context in which this policy is grounded.  It also sets out how the Department of Health and sector leaders propose to develop a sector led programme to support councils with social service responsibilities in delivering this modernisation agenda, including links to existing tools. 

A copy of the Social Care Reform Grant Determination is attached to the LAC and sets out the details of the new ring-fenced grant to help councils to redesign and reshape their systems.

The expectation is that by 2010/11 councils will have made significant steps towards redesign and reshaping their adult social care services, with the majority having most of the core components of a personalised system in place.   Councils should be able to demonstrate to their partners better use of resources across the entire system by investing in early intervention to ensure that the new systems are embedded at a local level.


The Department of Health is currently working with its partners to develop a facilitation and support programme for councils and further details will be available shortly.

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