We need to talk about person-centred care #A4PCC

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We need to talk about person-centred care#A4PCC

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#A4PCC: Action for person-centred care One in four people in the UK live with a long-term condition. 30% have more than one long-term condition and this increases with age and deprivation. Long-term conditions are chronic diseases for which there is currently no cure. These include conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. People with long-term conditions have the greatest healthcare needs, with 50% of all GP appointments and 70% of all bed days in hospitals being due to long term conditions. In fact, 70% of the NHS and social care budgets in England are spent on treating people with long-term conditions.

There are two key challenges that people with long term conditions face:• Being treated as a disease – not a person;• A health and care system that works as individual components, not

holistically, especially for those with multiple conditions.

Person-centred care is important for people with long term conditions for a number of reasons, including:• Wellbeing is about more than just medically managing a condition;• Is it acceptable for life to be just endured and not really lived well?• It’s an ethical, social and financial issue;• Shared decision-making is key;• We need to take account of self-care, feeling in control and the

impact on mental health;• No one knows more about their condition than the patient.A series of workshops were held with NHS England, NHS Improving Quality (now the NHS England Long Term Conditions Sustainable

Improvement Team) and the Coalition for Collaborative Care. The message was clear: it was time to act. This eBook gives an overview of the discussions that took place in those workshops and why person-centred care is so important.

So, want to get involved? There are some simple things you can do:• Read more about Action for Person-Centred Care and have your

say• Join the conversation, share and inspire online using the hashtag

#A4PCC• Watch and share our videos featuring people with long-term

conditions talking honestly about the day-to-day reality of life for them

• Make a declaration

Only together can we make life better for the millions living with long term conditions.

Beverley MatthewsLong Term Conditions Programme Lead

Sustainable Improvement TeamNHS England

http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/improvement-programmes/long-term-conditions-and-integrated-care/action-for-person-centred-care.aspx



http://www.nhsiq.nhs.uk/improvement-programmes/long-term-conditions-and-integrated-care/navigating-health-and-care.aspx

http://coalitionforcollaborativecare.org.uk/our-declaration/


People are more than just their conditions – they don’t want to be defined by the symptoms that need to be treated. There needs to be a move from people being seen as a condition and cared for on that basis, to a more person-centred approach. One that not only looks at all the aspects of a person’s health together but also gives the person the power and knowledge to make decisions about their health.

#A4PCC


For this to happen care and support planning needs to be done collaboratively, with the person, their carers and their health and care professionals all working together. We need to start a person-centred conversation. The conversation needs to go beyond tests and treatment. The relationship between people and their health and care professionals should be one of partners – with both sides valuing the perspective, expertise and knowledge of the other.

#A4PCC

www.england.nhs.uk 5#A4PCC

People with long-term conditions have described the type of relationship they would like with their health care professional as being ‘two adults in a room’, both listening, respecting each other and making decisions together. They are seen as a person, not defined by their conditions.


As well as being the right way to support people, we know this approach works - people are more likely to follow through on decisions they have been involved in making. This shifts the conversation from ‘what is the matter with you’ to ‘what matters to you’.


NHS England has developed a short document, Our Declaration, which sets out why Action For Person-Centred Care is important. Our Declaration can be used by people with long-term conditions, health and social care professionals, charities and other groups to get the conversation on person-centred care started and help us to understand what needs to be done.


To make person-centred care a reality the whole system needs to work together. This will only happen if there is a movement of change from across health and social care, working in partnership with people who live with a long-term condition. A term that can be used to describe this is ‘co-production’. This is when people with long-term conditions work together with health and care workers, those who plan and commission services, managers and policy makers to design the services and support needed.


We know this kind of change won’t happen overnight. It will require leadership and dedication from both people with long-term conditions and the professionals who care for them.


While Our Declaration goes some way to explain what ‘good’ care looks like, we need to be aware that this may not be enough. There will be a need for training and awareness discussions so that we can identify what works and share it as widely as we can.


Language is also important – for both health and care professionals and people with long-term conditions. While non-clinicians may struggle to understand the medical jargon and acronyms so often used, health and care professionals may struggle to understand the new language of person-centred care.


This kind of change will not happen quickly. There needs to be a fundamental shift from both the professionals and the people living with long-term conditions. They need to have the confidence to discuss their concerns and work together; to develop solutions and design the right support, at the right time. The good news is the work towards bringing about change has already begun. We are moving in the right direction, and many others are joining us on the path to making person-centred care and support planning a reality. There is, however, still a long way to go.


Join us by making your own declaration for person-centred care and joining the conversation through our hashtag #A4PCC and help us to make this vision a reality.

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#A4PCC

Healthcare

We need to talk about person-centred care #A4PCC