IMPOWER’s Heroes of Christmas: 19 December

Our alternative advent calendar celebrates the people or teams who have inspired us this year.

James is the driving force behind the biggest cultural change taking place across the NHS – empowering people to have greater control of their own health and care. This is being achieved through the introduction of personal health budgets, integrated personalised commissioning, social prescribing and shared decision making. James’ fundamental belief is that individuals can be motivated and mobilised to take responsibility for their own health and care. He has reframed the conversation between health workers and the public from ‘what is the matter with you?’ to ‘what matters to you?’. The movement James has created continues to grow, and his tireless efforts to deliver, share and measure the impact of personalised care are truly worthy of recognition – and far from over.