Care planning for long term conditions

8 September 2011

A report on care planning for long term physical conditions was launched yesterday by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

According to their press release, the new approach: “focuses on people with long term physical health problems and provides guidance to help GPs and their teams better support such patients in gaining more control over their health and improving the quality of their lives.

“It moves the focus from the clinician ‘doing,’ to the clinician ‘enabling’ the patient to manage the challenges of their own condition, fully supported by their GP surgery.

“People with long term conditions account for more than 50% of all general practice appointments, 65% of outpatient appointments and over 70% of inpatient bed days, amounting to 70% of the total health and social care spend in England.

“The RCGP claims that incorporating the model of ‘care planning’ into daily general practice will not only improve the health outcomes and wellbeing of patients but will save the NHS time and money by reducing hospital admissions, A&E attendance and medication expenditure.”