Personal Health Budgets and Continuing Care

Continuing Care packages for children or young people up to 18 years is for those with highly complex health needs that cannot be met by services which are routinely available, for example services delivered from GP practices, hospitals or in the community.

These health needs may be the result of a congenital condition, long-term, life-limiting or life-threatening condition, disability or a serious illness or injury.

For these children and young people, they may be offered an additional care package known as Continuing Care.

Find out more about children and young people’s continuing care and read the government’s guidance on children and young people’s continuing care

For more information, call the children and young people’s continuing care team on 0121 612 2133. 

Transition to Adult Continuing Healthcare provision

Continuing care packages for children and young people stops when a child/ young person reaches 18 years of age. For people over the age of 18 with severe and complex health needs, support may be provided through NHS continuing healthcare for adults. This is organised differently from continuing care for children and young people, and there is a different assessment process.

If your child/ young person receives continuing care and it seems likely they will need similar support when they are an adult this should be identified in discussion with you when they reach age 14 years. At 16-17 years your young person should be referred for initial assessment for adult NHS continuing healthcare. This should again be a multi-disciplinary assessment and a decision about eligibility should be made when they are 17 years old.

Personal Health Budgets

If you or your child has NHS funded complex healthcare needs, you can ask the NHS for a personal health budget. This is an amount of money from the NHS, which patients agree with their nurse to spend on their health needs. The aim is to give people more choice and control over their healthcare to increase their independence.

Personal health budgets – Birmingham and Solihull CCG