NHS must personalise services for long-term conditions
pharmafile | August 3, 2011 | News story | Sales and Marketing | NHS, long term conditions
The government is highlighting a scheme in West Yorkshire as providing a way forward for reducing the cost burden on the NHS of the 15 million people suffering long-term illnesses.
Such conditions account for an estimated 70% of the total health and social care budget, which means around a third of the population accounts for over two thirds of money spent.
A joint initiative between the ambulance service, hospitals, GPs and nurses from Kirklees identified patients who frequently use emergency services in a bid to help them manage their condition better.
The result was a reduction in ambulance trips by 16% and savings to NHS Kirklees of £1.09 million – and the government says this could “easily” be replicated around the country, producing savings of £2.2 billion.
“I know the NHS can work more efficiently to improve care for their local communities, as it has shown in West Yorkshire,” says health secretary Andrew Lansley.
“People with long-term conditions have some of the most complex health needs in the country and we need to personalise services to suit their needs, not fit them around how the NHS is organised,” he went on.
The number of people with long-term conditions, such as hypertension, is forecast to rise 250% by 2050. Clinicians need to take the lead “locally” on this, Lansley added.
In Kirklees, electronic patient records can be seen by any health professional treating the patient, along with emergency care plans.
A senior Whitehall mandarin this year likened long-term care issues to a “tsunami of need” in public health.
Sir John Oldham, part of the QIPP team working out how to make £15-20 billion in efficiency savings over the next four years, is in charge of improving how the NHS deals with long-term conditions and urgent care.
He told the PM Society earlier this year: “If we continue to manage people with long-term conditions as we do now, the NHS and social care system are not sustainable.”
Plans for GPs to reduce unscheduled admissions of patients with long-term conditions by 20% by the end of 2013-14 have already been announced, along with cutting A&E attendance by 10% and length of stay by 25%.
The government wants to reduce ambulance call-outs by over 900,000 and hospital bed days by over 10.2 million.
Adam Hill
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