Common Long Term Conditions Adult

Long term Conditions Support (Adults)

Some links on this page have been colour coded to make it easier to find the information you need:

Quick Read
In-depth
Clinical level

As the Care Quality Commission suggest
“More than 15 million people in England are living with a long-term condition (LTC) and a rising number have multiple LTCs. Yet they only spend a few hours per year with health and care professionals; the rest of the time is spent self-managing their condition. People who are engaged in their health and care are more likely to receive care and treatment that is appropriate to their needs, to adopt healthier behaviours, and less likely to use emergency care.
“GP mythbuster 75: Personalised care and support planning.” The Care Quality Commission website. Retrieved 15th March 2023.

Local support- self referral

Support for a person with a long term condition needs to be broader than just focusing on medical needs but also involves considering what matters to them in supporting their overall wellbeing.

physical wellbeing – local support

Good physical wellbeing can support the treatment of a number of health conditions, and includes local support in the areas of

Reducing risk factors for some health conditions are well supported locally

Paying attention to healthy living changes, as with physical wellbeing, not only benefits the present but can reduce the risk of many health conditions in the future as is covered under

mental wellbeing – local support

There is specific local mental health support for long term conditions and general group support for buildng self-esteem, from the local NHS psychological service:

From Buckinghamshire Talking Therapies

There is further mental health support which includes

Social wellbeing – local support

Under the section on personalised care below there is information on the local and national support for social wellbeing and on the important broad support for various aspects of life.

Personalised care

As the Department of Health suggests for people with long term conditions
“Personalised care planning empowers individuals, promotes independence and helps people to be more involved in decisions about their care. Personalised care planning is essentially about addressing an individual’s full range of needs, taking into account their health, personal, family, social, economic, educational, mental health, ethnic and cultural background and circumstances. It recognises that there are other issues, in addition to medical needs, that affect a person’s total health and well-being.”
“Care coordination: improving care for people with long term conditions.” The Gov UK website. Retrieved 8th February 2024.

Personalised care planning and support is described by NHS England, see under what is “What personalised care and support planning involves” below.

LOCAL SUPPORT FOR PERSONALISED CARE

The focus here is to help you understand some of important parts of personalised care but also importantly to provide information on the the local and national support available for social needs, which are in addition to your medical needs and cover some of the broad aspects of life. This is explained further below:

Shared decision making

As NHS England suggests
“Shared decision making (SDM) ensures that individuals are supported to make decisions that are right for them. It is a collaborative process through which a clinician supports a patient to reach a decision about their treatment. The conversation brings together: the clinician’s expertise, such as treatment options, evidence, risks and benefits and what the patient knows best: their preferences, personal circumstances, goals, values and beliefs.”
“Shared decision making.” NHS England website. Retrieved 18th January 2023

How you can get more involved in your care is explained further under

SELF-MANAGEMENT

From the Patients Association
Self-management Self-management | The Patients Association

From NHS England
Supported self-management NHS England » Supported self-management

An example of self management

From IBD UK
The organisation supports patients with inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD). IBD UK sets out how patients with IBD should be supported in self-management and why it is important.
Support for self-management Support for self-management | IBD UK

There is excellent local support for social wellbeing (including the possibility of self referring yourself to a social prescriber), see under

LOCAL AND NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR the social side of life

Support for the social side of life can significantly help you live with your long term condition(s).  There is local and national support included with the links below.

Some habits can impact health including

Present circumstances can be important including

Some events in your life can also impact physical health including

There is support for different patient groups see under
Support For All  this includes as examples

Other issues at home can be important including

Support for carers

A carer is a person of any age (including children) who provides unpaid support (excluding statutory allowances such as Carer’s Allowance) to a partner, relative, friend or neighbour who couldn’t cope without their help. Carers play an essential role supporting many patients with long term conditions. There is excellent local and national support for carers, including services you can self-refer to, see under

Identifying carers IN YOUR GP PRACTICE

GP practices want to improve carer identification so they can improve the support for carers. If you are supported by a carer, please can you help by asking your carer to notify their practice if that has not been done previously. How to do this is explained in the carers section on the practice website under “Vulnerable people” in the main menu section on “Health and your practice”.

Patient experiences

It can on occasions be helpful to understand other people’s experience of the long term condition you have.

From Health Talk
“Thousands of people have shared their experiences on film to help you understand what it’s like to have a health condition such as breast cancer or arthritis” Healthtalk

From Health Unlocked
“The world’s largest social network for health” Free Membership
“A social network that allows users the chance to connect with others going through the same thing as them. By engaging with one of hundreds of specialised communities, users can get advice, support or simply chat with people who understand their perspective and can offer some new insight by giving their own.” HealthUnlocked | The social network for health

potential SOCIAL and mental health IMPACT

From the Patients Association
Long term conditions Long term conditions | The Patients Association

From Patient info
Living with a Long-term Condition Living with a Long-term Condition. Health management info | Patient

From the Royal College of Psychiatrists
Coping with physical illness Physical illness | Royal College of Psychiatrists

medicines optimisation

Having more than one long-term condition (multimorbidity) can lead to a large number of drugs being prescribed (polypharmacy). Medicines optimisation can reduce associated risks including those that come with frailty.

From NHS England
Medicines optimisation NHS England » Medicines optimisation

From Patient info

From Patient info
This has been written for clinicians but gives an insight into clinical thinking.
Multimorbidity Multimorbidity | Doctor | Patient

From NICE

Having a long term medical condition leads many older patients to consider planning for the future decades before death with a

Understanding end of life care allows long term planning for the future and discussions with family, ensuring it is known what a person might want.

personalised care

From NHS England

NHS England set out what personalised care and support planning involves

From the Care Quality Commission
GP mythbuster 75: Personalised care and support planning GP mythbuster 75: Personalised care and support planning – Care Quality Commission

From National Voices
Includes a downloadable guide to care and support planning designed to help anyone – people with needs, or health and social care staff to understand and take part in this process. Care and support planning | National Voices

From the Personalised Care Institute
This website is intended for health care professionals delivering personalised care but on the home page it includes a section “The value of personalised care”, which is helpful in understanding some of the advantages personalisedcareinstitute.org.uk.

From the Royal College of General Practitioners
Person-Centred Care toolkit Person-Centred Care toolkit: Introduction | RCGP Learning

Vaccinations

ANNUAL FLU VACCINATION

People with certain long term conditions are at higher risk of more serious illness with flu including sepsis. For this reason, the NHS provides free flu vaccinations in higher risk groups whatever your age. See under

Further information on all vaccinations

There are a number of other vaccinations which may be relevant to you. See under

Spotting sepsis

some long term conditions can lead to a higher risk of sepsis

People with certain long-term conditions can be at higher risk from sepsis. Having some basic knowledge of the symptoms and signs of sepsis can allow you to identify when someone is becoming seriously ill earlier and take immediate action. This is explained under

NHS 111

If you think you need medical help right now, 111 online can tell you what to do next.

Physiotherapy

You can now self refer for physiotherapy locally

Your Pharmacy

Seven common infections now treated by your local pharmacist

CAMPAIGNS

Show your heart some love, women of Bucks!

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