Personalised Care Week 2026 - Your thoughts, Your voice
Julie Stevens, Senior Workforce Lead, NHS Lincolnshire ICB, and Expert by Experience
We are all individuals in our own right with our own values, beliefs, experiences and wishes.
This, I believe, is what distinguishes us from others. The decisions we make in everyday life are made based on these qualities and, therefore, should not change when our health and care needs change.
Personalisation for me is most important to allow each and everyone of us to have the choice and control within the best of our abilities and to be at the centre of professional minds when they are providing support, information and suggestions.
What we do with this knowledge, information and support is truly ours to make as a unique human being, even if that does go against the “norm”, or is what others would see as being of detriment.
Health and care individuals arguably take up the profession to make things better for individuals and to “make a difference” – this doesn't always mean that they need to fix things or make people better. They can still make a difference by listening to what is important to us as individuals and what we wish to achieve in the moment or near future, even if that is not necessarily the best clinical way forward and/or goes against every value they personally hold.
My Father has spent over two years in a nursing care home. In some cases, I have seen real personalisation - for example, supporting residents with their individual dietary needs such as pureeing food for some or cooking something different when a choice of food is not liked.
However, I have also seen where personalisation has not been at the forefront of people's minds due to the number of residents being looked after, routines, and challenges with logistics undertaken e.g., everyone eating breakfast at a certain time and getting their lunch at a certain time.
Dad required permanent oxygen and therefore his wishes to go outside and sit in the garden or go on a trip were often met with frustration regarding needing portable oxygen. There seemed to be so many reasons given why dad could not undertake these experiences when he wished to do so, and it was more or less dictated when it could happen, rather than trying to find the best solution possible to balance Dad's independence, choices, and wishes in the moment.
Our challenge, I believe, going forward, in a world where everyone is performanced managed to complete a certain number of interactions / surgeries / contacts in a certain time period, is professionals feeling they have permission to just stop and listen for however long it takes to ensure that the individual feels heard and their wishes enacted. This may be such a simple and small thing - such as sitting out in the garden every day or attending bingo or being able to die on their own terms - which would not feature in performance management strategies but would mean everything to the individual.
