Patients are set to be offered money by the NHS, so that, they can spend it on healthcare services as per their own preferences.

Care Services Minister, Paul Burstow, who made yesterday's statement, said that the scheme would place people in control of the kind of treatment they chose to receive.

Eight pilot projects are being arranged throughout the nation, which includes one in South Yorkshire, which will road-test the first ‘direct payment’ schemes.

Primary care trusts will now provide the money allotted for a patient's healthcare that has been named as personal health budget given directly to that patient, so they can settle on how to invest the money for their treatment.

After being given the settled amount of money, patients can make a decision whether to use NHS or private care services. They might also decide to use a personal assistant in their own home.

Mr. Burstow said that this system was a major step towards giving the foremost preference to patient care.

Direct payments have real prospective to perk up the lives of individuals with long-term health requirements by placing treatment options in their hands.

The direct payment scheme is planned in such a way, that it helps patients with long-term health troubles, for instance diabetes, stroke, heart disease and mental health conditions.