Healthcare delivery
A manifesto for ‘personalised’ health and care
In this article, the Clinical Director of the Personalised Care Institute, Dr. Emma Hyde, explores new research which indicates that personalised care, a model of NHS care that gives people more choice and control over their health and care decisions, is inconsistently delivered across the NHS. Dr. Hyde argues that, to realise the potential for personalised care to reduce NHS pressures, increase patient satisfaction and improve health outcomes, it must be made an education and policy priority.
A report, published by the not-for-profit Personalised Care Institute (PCI) in December 2024, revealed a concerning picture of the state of personalised care - an official NHS model of care, supported by a wealth of evidence demonstrating its effectiveness, that’s designed to give people choice and control over how their care is planned and delivered. The PCI’s report, A New Dawn for the NHS: A Manifesto for Putting Personalised Care at the Centre, identifies challenges within the UK’s health and care system that has prevented the widespread adoption of personalised care, leading to worsening health conditions, reduced adherence to treatment, and a rise in avoidable GP and A&E visits. It also outlines the three changes that are needed to tackle this.
What is personalised care? Personalised care is a model of care that was integral to the NHS Long Term Plan,1
published
in 2019. It aims to give people the same control and choice over their health and care that they have come to expect in every other part of their lives. The principles of personalised care were originally seen to be most impactful to support people living with complex needs, long term physical or mental health conditions or those struggling with social issues that impacted upon their health and wellbeing. However, it is increasingly viewed as a universal model that benefits everyone receiving care.2
This is possible due to the way
personalised care shifts the focus from ‘what’s the matter with you’ to ‘what matters to you’, empowering individuals to take as much control as possible of their health and wellbeing, with support from their care team. Personalised care consists of six elements:
shared decision-making, patient choice, health coaching and supported self-management, connecting to community support, personalised
care and support plans, and personal health budgets. Not all six elements will be applicable to everyone receiving care, but each element should be considered when there are changes to a person’s health and wellbeing. Since the NHS Long Term Plan3
was published,
personalised care has featured in almost every key health strategy. This includes the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan,4
Conditions Strategy Consultation.5
care is essential to addressing the call made in Lord Darzi’s rapid review of the NHS,6 published in September 2024, for patients to be empowered to take as much control over their health as possible. Furthermore, in the new NHS 10-year Health
Plan (being published in 2025), personalised care approaches are likely to be central to achieving the NHS’s ambitions, which include a focus on providing joined-up, integrated care for people with one or more long-term conditions and tackling health inequalities. Personalised care has long been recognised
to lead to better health and care outcomes, both by people delivering and receiving services.
and the NHS Major Personalised
However, to fully realise its benefits, NHS teams need to be supported with opportunities to develop their personalised care skills in a strategic and co-ordinated way. Too often however, the responsibility to learn more about personalised care - which requires a wide array of theoretical and practical skills in communication, behaviour and decision- making - is placed on busy individual health and care professionals. This needs to change. The health and care system must recognise the fundamental importance of personalised care education as a means to provide better care and create a more sustainable system.
New research While personalised care is proven to be effective, the report from the Personalised Care Institute, published in December 2024, shows that, at present, personalised care is being deprioritised and inconsistently delivered across the health and care service.7
The research,
based on data from 2,000 patients and 500 health and care professionals, found that just over half (55%) of health and care professionals
June 2025 I
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