Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will extend top ups for personal health budgets for products other than wheelchairs.

NHS services are free of charge, except in limited circumstances sanctioned by Parliament. Increasing the number of areas where top-up payments for personal health budgets (PHBs) are allowed would risk creating a two-tier health service, undermining the core principle of the National Health Service, set out in the NHS Constitution, that treatment is provided free at the point of use, based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

The Government is committed to the roll out of PHBs, and through Universal Personalised Care, NHS England has committed to offering PHBs to up to 200,000 people over the next five years.

From 6 April 2018 to 8 June 2018, the Department and NHS England consulted on five groups which we believe may benefit most from PHBs. On 21 February 2019, we announced our intention to extend the legal rights to a PHB to people eligible for Section 117 aftercare services, and people who access wheelchair services, whose posture and mobility needs impact their wider health and social care needs. PHBs will not be appropriate for everyone, however we will also continue to work with NHS England to further explore both the other groups we consulted on, and additional groups who we believe could also benefit from having a right to have a PHB. Any further extension will be based on evidence of effectiveness and clinical appropriateness.

The Department and NHS England will continue to support clinical commissioning groups in expanding their PHB offer outside of those groups which are offered a legal right.