Long Term Conditions (LTC) are health conditions that can impact on a person’s life, and may require ongoing care and support. We organise appointments and provide support for people who have an LTC by putting in place a way of working called ‘Care and Support Planning’.
What is care and support planning?
This way of working aims to give you the opportunity to get more out of your annual review appointments by reorganising the way things happen and giving you more information before you see one of our Nurses. It should help you talk about:
- What support you may need
- What is important to you
- What you can do to look after your health and stay well
Who is it for?
Any patient who has a Long Term Condition (LTC).
The Benefits
This way of working is nearly always preferred by patients. It will help both you and our Nurse make the best use of the time you have in your care and support planning appointment. All the important tests and results needed at your appointment will be available for discussion at your second appointment.
What does this mean for me?
This means that your care and support planning review will take place over two separate appointments and you will have time to think about what you want to get out of these visits.
We have changed the way we provide reviews for our patients with long term conditions. If you have been diagnosed with a long term condition like Diabetes, Chronic Heart Disease, Asthma or COPD we will invite you in to have a review on a yearly basis and we will work with you to support you to manage your condition in the best possible way.
If you have more than one of these conditions you will have them all reviewed in one appointment with the practice nurse. The nurse may invite you in more frequently or refer you on to a GP or to other services if you are having complications of your condition or require additional support.
Part 1 – You will be asked to make an appointment with either the Practice Nurse or Health Care Assistant. During this appointment they will gather information required and carry out any tests needed, for example bloods, weight and/or BP check so that the clinician has all of the information they needs to carry out a thorough review.
Part 2 – Once your results are back you will be contacted to come in for the second part of your review (the completion appointment). You will see either the Practice Nurse or the Doctor to complete your review. Prior to this appointment your results will be sent to you so you can look through them and have a think about whether there is anything in particular you wish to discuss. The second part of the review is vital so that you can have a chat with the clinician and plan the care of your long term condition for the next year ahead, thus giving you as much involvement in your healthcare as possible.
To make it easy for you to remember when you are due your review in future we will invite you in during the month of your birthday.
Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death both in the UK and worldwide. CHD is sometimes called Ischaemic heart disease.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the name for a group of lung conditions that cause breathing difficulties.