What Does ‘Person-Centred’ Really Mean in Daily Practice?

🧠 Blog 1 of 7 in our Person-Centred Care series: Recording & Evidencing Person-Centred Care

What does ‘person-centred’ really mean in day-to-day practice? It’s a phrase everyone uses — but it’s often misunderstood, overclaimed, or recorded in a way that tells commissioners very little.

🧍♂️ ‘Person-centred’ isn’t about paperwork — it’s about mindset.

It means:

  • Understanding what matters most to the individual, not just their needs
  • Enabling choice, control, and participation in care
  • Seeing the person beyond their condition or diagnosis
  • Responding flexibly to what works for them — not just what fits the rota

📋 Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

Lots of services genuinely aim to be person-centred. But when you read the documentation, it often fails to reflect that. Daily notes describe tasks completed, not experiences lived. Care plans focus on risk, not aspirations. Reviews capture progress against service goals, not personal goals.

To commissioners and regulators, person-centred care is only as real as what they can see in your:

  • Care plans
  • Daily notes
  • Staff training
  • Supervision records
  • Internal audits
  • Service user feedback

If it’s not being recorded, it’s not being evidenced — and if it’s not being evidenced, it might as well not be happening.

🔍 What You’ll Learn in This Series

Over this 7-part series, we’ll explore how to record and evidence person-centred approaches in a way that:

  • Improves care quality
  • Builds commissioner and CQC confidence
  • Strengthens your tender responses

From daily notes to audits, language choices to supervision — you’ll get practical insight into what good looks like and how to show it.

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Chat on WhatsApp or email Mike.Harrison@impact-guru.co.uk

Updated for Procurement Act 2023 • CQC-aligned • BASE-aligned (where relevant)

📚 Explore the Full Person-Centred Recording Blog Series:

Written by Impact Guru, editorial oversight by Mike Harrison, Founder of Impact Guru Ltd — bringing extensive experience in health and social care tenders, commissioning and strategy.

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