Care and safety planning

Care plan:

A personalised plan that sets out:

• Your needs and what matters to you
• Your goals and priorities
• Support and treatment
• Who is involved in your care and their role

Safety plan:

A practical, step-by-step guide to help you stay safe and manage difficult feelings or situations. It focuses on what works for you and who can help.

Your care and safety plan helps you to:

• Feel more in control and involved in your care
• Get the right support at the right time
• Set meaningful goals and track progress
• Understand your triggers and how to manage them
• Stay safe if you feel unwell or at risk
• Make sure everyone supporting you is working together

The current approach was developed a long time ago and we know it doesn’t always work well. People have told us:

• They are not always involved in decisions
• Plans can feel rushed or unclear
• Plans don’t always reflect what matters most to them

We’re improving care and safety planning so it’s:

• More personalised – tailored to you as an individual
• More collaborative – developed with you
• More consistent – the same standard across services
• More meaningful – focused on what really matters to you

Click on the links to find out more about what's new and how it'll benefit you:

• New principles and standards - these are our promises to you 

• One care and safety plan - all your information in one place

• DIALOG+ - a new way ​​​​​of helping you and your key worker focus on what matters most to you

If you’re too unwell or not able to complete your plan for another reason:

• Your safety plan will be completed by your key worker as a minimum
• This may involve carers, family or supporters, where appropriate
• The rest of your care plan can be completed when you feel able

We’ve developed improved ways to make sure care and safety planning is high quality and working well.

We’ll continue to gather feedback from patients and carers, using your experiences and suggestions to make improvements.

If things aren't working well and you’re unhappy, you can:

• Speak to your key worker
• If you don’t feel able to do that, talk to another member of your care team, or the team manager
• If you’re still unhappy, or don’t want to speak with the team or manager, contact our Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) and Complaints Team

• Ben, 49 (pictured middle, with his care team): “DIALOG+ makes me feel listened to. We talk about all areas of life, not just mental health. 
  "It helps me set realistic goals and track progress. Now I have a clear plan and know who’s supporting me, I can achieve things I never thought possible.”
• Visit the DIALOG+ page to watch a video clip of people with lived experience explaining how DIALOG+ has benefitted them.
• Patient feedback from our Bury teams who piloted DIALOG+ in 2025: “Patients have found DIALOG+ useful. They feel more involved with care planning and say the use of the scale and goal setting in care plans provides a clear treatment plan.”

Are you someone who provides unpaid support to a family member, friend or neighbour who could not manage without your help?

This could be caring for a relative, partner or friend who is ill, frail, disabled, or has mental ill-health, autism, a learning disability, or drug and/or alcohol problems.

If so, we may refer to you as a carer. We know that being a carer can be very difficult as well as very rewarding. Read our helpful information for carers about care planning.

This includes:

• What the person you care for can expect
• How you'll be involved in care planning
• How we'll share information 
• Support for you
• How you can get involved.