Andrew Sanderson, deputy director of policy and strategy directorate at the DoH, told a King's Fund conference last week that many people had asked whether personal health budgets could be used to pay for complementary and alternative medicines.
'There are some things it obviously wouldn't be appropriate for the taxpayer to pay for,' he said.
'But if a service is agreed as part of a care plan as likely to improve the patient's health, the budget can be spent on it.'
Stephen Johnson, DoH deputy director for long-term conditions, told the conference in London that the department had created several short films to explain the switch to personal health budgets, for broadcast in practice receptions.
'We're also trying to get them shown in Tesco cafes,' he added.
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