This Think Local Act Personal report sets out a direction for improving the evidence base for personal budgets.
It is a response to the National Audit Office’s report into Personalised Commissioning in Adult Social Care (published in March 2016). The NAO report originally drew attention to the lack of a firm evidence base for understanding the impact of personal budgets. TLAP addressed this ‘evidence challenge’ by working with colleagues from across the care and support sector, including people with lived experience, and experts in research and evaluation. We held a series of roundtables and produced this report.
Key messages in the report are:
- More use could and should be made of existing tools such as the Personal Outcomes Evaluation Tool (POET) in order to understand the experience and outcomes of people receiving personal budgets.
- New measures and approaches to research and evaluation should be informed by people with lived experience and carers and what matters most to them.
- Improving the evidence base should reflect the goal of achieving truly integrated care and support, built around individuals and their networks of support.
- Above all, the report makes clear that personal budgets can only be understood within the context of personalisation.
