Using a personal health budget means that Christina’s family are able to interview nurses and healthcare support workers to make sure that she likes them before they are employed.   They employ a family member to go with Christina to college and personal assistants to drive her there.

The personal health budget pays for someone to support Christina in her own home so that her family can have breaks or so that she can go with her family on holidays.

She is much happier and has transferred to a local day service close to her home which she goes to five days a week. She’s very sociable, her favourite activity is colouring and she enjoys the time she spends with her personal assistant team.

A personal health budget has given Christina choice and control and even though her health is still complex she has not needed an emergency hospital admission since the new arrangement began.