HSA started nearly 6 years ago. I had just finished the person centred planning guidance with Martin Routledge, for the Department of Health (following the policy ‘Valuing People’).

This was my first experience of writing Government Guidance, and it took many drafts! This was also the first time that person centred planning appeared in Government policy and resulted in a flurry of demand for training. I asked Jo Harvey and Charlotte Sweeney to help me deliver training across the country, and that is how HSA started.

I am writing Government guidance again now, this time as part of the Putting People First toolkit. I am excited and challenged by this. It means that person centred planning will be recognised as key in delivering Putting People First for all adults using social care, and not just people with learning disabilities. We are also seeing early developments of using person centred thinking and planning in health.