From this autumn many people can apply for a personal health budget.
Personal Health Budgets are being introduced by the NHS to help people manage their care in a way that suits them.
At the moment, only people who get NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) or children who get NHS continuing care (CC) can apply but next year is personal health budgets are likely to be offered to more people, particularly those with long term conditions.
You can spend your budget on a range of services including personal car or equipment. First you have to create and agree a support plan with your local NHS team, but services can be supplied by other organisations if that is the best choice for you. There are some things you cant use the budge for, such as alcohol, tobacco, gambling, debt repayment for anything that is illegal.
You can find out more about this on the NHS Choices website at www.nhs.uk/personalhealthbudgets or your local CCG website at