Patient comment: delivering person-centred care in long-term conditions

As patients, we also have a responsibility for looking at new ways of working with our clinicians. Person-centred care for long-term conditions (LTCs) offers us an excellent opportunity. Around 40% of the UK population have LTCs, accounting for 70% of inpatient bed days, 78% of GP appointments and 70% of health and social care spending. The figures are stark. Multimorbidity is on the increase. Most people with multimorbidity are younger than 65 and, in the 65–84 age group, 65% of people have two or more conditions. These figures are on the increase. Limited resources and economic arguments concentrate the mind and present a challenge to us all. How, as patients, can we do things better? How, as clinicians and healthcare specialists, can you support us in different ways? Dr Eaton1 elucidates ways in which patients and doctors can work more effectively together to manage LTCs. The phrase, ‘the clinician could be considered as the expert around the disease with the person as the expert on their lives’, rings true. And, ‘holistic care – viewing the person as a whole rather than a disease or body part’, is something every patient applauds. Fortunately, I have …