THE long-term sick could be given money directly by the NHS to sort out their own treatment.

The county’s primary care trust, NHS Oxfordshire, is piloting a scheme to give patients their own personal health care budgets.

It means people with conditions that need treatment over a long period of time would get money sent to a bank account so they could decide on their own treatment.

It will be available from September to 150 people in Oxfordshire who fall under the NHS continuing care scheme.

The amount patients will get is decided through an assesment by the primary care trust, but will be equivalent to the care they would normally receive. For most this is around £600 a week, but can be as little as £50 or more than £1,000 a week.

It will be directed at patients with conditions such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease and carers for people with mental health conditions.

Patients would be offered a full briefing on how and where to spend the money.

Trudy Reynolds, project manager for NHS Oxfordshire, said the patients’ money would be closely monitored to make sure no one was taking advantage of the patients, or the scheme.

The pilot scheme is also being tested by PCTs in Doncaster, Eastern and Coastal Kent, Central London, Islington, Merseyside, Somerset, and West Sussex.

Tom Nabarro, from Standlake, is one of the 150 people who have been selected to try out personal health care budgets Mr Nabarro, 25, a former pupil at The Cherwell School, Oxford, was paralysed in a snowboarding accident three years ago.

Mr Nabarro said: “It will make a lot of people’s lives easier and raise their potential standard of living.”