Patients are to receive personal allowances of NHS money to organise the care option they feel best suits them.

The health service will hand money to hundreds of thousands of patients with mental health problems, dementia and physical learning difficulties and allow them to choose the treatment they want.

The move is part of an effort by ministers to 'put power back into the hands of patients'.

The money will be paid directly to patients and they will be allowed to spend it on whatever treatment they feel is the best for their condition, although they will need a doctor's approval.

The 'personal health budgets' could be handed to the likes of veterans leaving the Army and wheelchair users after complaints about the service received by some groups.

It is thought some of the budgets could be in the tens of thousands of pounds. The move will allow patients to employ whoever they wish as carers, hire personal assistants, buy equipment and enrol in exercise classes.

While many will be delighted with the move, others have criticised the policy, saying that the money could end up being spent on holidays and aromatherapy.There are 23,000 people with personal budgets through NHS Continuing Healthcare, but ministers now want an 'exponential' expansion, taking the figure to 350,000.

Care minister Caroline Dinenage told The Times: 'If you have complex needs, our current health and social care system can be confusing. It's right people should be involved in the important decisions about how their care is delivered. These changes will put the power back into the hands of patients and their families.'

Miss Dinenage said personal patient budgets would 'not only improve quality of life and the care they receive, they will offer good value for money for the taxpayer and reduce pressure on emergency care by joining up health and social care services at a local level'.

The budgets have been backed by NHS head Simon Stevens and Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

It comes after tax rises to fund the NHS were last week backed by the majority of voters following a large swing in favour of the policy among Tory supporters. Almost three times as many Britons told the British Social Attitudes survey they believe the NHS has got worse as those who say it has improved – the biggest gap since the 1990s.

And for the first time in a decade the majority of people say they are willing to pay more to increase health spending.

The survey revealed that 61 per cent of adults said they would be willing to pay more to fund the NHS, up from 49 per cent in 2016 and 41 per cent in 2014, The Times reported.

Among Conservative supporters, 56 per cent agreed, an increase of 13 percentage points in a year and 23 points since 2014, when the question was first asked. Of the Labour supporters who took part, 68 per cent wanted a rise.

Theresa May will set out a long-term plan for the health service within months and the findings that voters are happy to pay more will give a boost to those pushing for a commitment to budget increases. The NHS – which has a budget this year of £125 billion – faces a funding gap of about £20billion by the end of parliament. 

Source: DailyMail