Community matrons: person-centred care planning (part one).

A total of 15 million people in England live with a long term condition. The government wants to improve the health and social care outcomes for the most vulnerable by offering them pro-active support and case management from community matrons. Personalised care planning is fundamental to the success of this intervention. Yet new role developments in nursing have often lacked rigorous evaluation, particularly in relation to clinical and service outcomes and patient perspectives. This article introduces a framework for person-centred care planning (McCormack and McCance 2006). It helps identify what community matrons are likely to need, do and think about in order to deliver truly person-centred care.