The Government will set out a strategy to tackle six major conditions contributing to England’s ‘burden of disease’, the health secretary has announced.
In a statement to Parliament, Mr Barclay listed these major conditions as cancers; cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal disorders.
‘Tackling’ these conditions is ‘critical’ to achieving the Government’s manifesto commitment of gaining five extra years of healthy life expectancy by 2035, and its ‘levelling up’ mission to narrow the gap in healthy life expectancy by 2030.
‘This work combines our key commitments in mental health, cancer, dementia and health disparities into a single, powerful strategy, said the health secretary.
Although light on detail, Mr Barclay’s announcement set out that the forthcoming strategy would aim towards patients with multiple long-term conditions receiving ‘whole-person’ care, with a greater focus on ‘generalist medical skills’ in the NHS workforce.
He said: ‘Our workforce model needs to adapt, reflecting that the NHS is caring for patients with increasingly complex needs and with multiple long-term conditions. We need greater emphasis on generalist medical skills to complement existing deep specialist expertise in the NHS, supporting clinical professionals to heal with whole-person care.’
By shifting the focus to ‘good health’ and ‘early intervention’, this will ‘reduce demand downstream on health and care services’, Mr Barclay pledged.
This ‘Major Conditions Strategy’, and the upcoming ‘NHS Long Term Workforce Plan’, will ‘work together to set out the standards patient should expect in the short term and over a five-year timeframe’, he added.
The plans will see health and care services, local Government and NHS bodies will be required to ‘work ever more closely together’ in order for the people of England to live ‘healthy, fulfilled, independent and longer lives’.
And Mr Barclay noted that people living in England’s most deprived places ‘live, on average, 19 fewer years in good health than those in the least deprived places’.
Therefore, the strategy will set out interventions that the Government can make ‘to ensure that ICSs and the organisations within them maximise the opportunities to tackle clusters of disadvantage in their local areas where they exist, he said.
This ‘will include addressing unwarranted variation in outcomes and the care people receive in the context of the recovery from the pandemic’, and be informed by the ongoing review into ICSs led by former health secretary Patricia Hewitt.
However, the health secretary’s announcement comes as he has yet to publish the Government’s long-awaited white paper on health disparities, produced last year. The RCGP and BMA were among 155 organisations to urge the Government to recommit to publishing the white paper in October last year.
Professor Azeem Majeed, professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, said: ‘We have seen a worsening of many health outcomes in England in the last year. For example, the number of deaths has been above the level expected.
‘The prevention, early diagnosis and management of long-term conditions will play an important role in trying to improve health outcomes. The management of long-term conditions should not therefore be overlooked when there is so much attention on urgent care in the NHS and it’s encouraging to see the Government focusing on this area.’
Kate Lee, CEO of Alzheimer’s Society, said: ‘Just last week we delivered to Downing Street an open letter signed by thousands of campaigners calling for delivery of the promised 10-year plan for dementia. They expect and deserve urgent action.
‘It’s encouraging to see that the Government recognises dementia as one of the biggest health and care challenges of our time, but we don’t want action on the distinct challenges of dementia to be lost within a broad strategy covering so many other serious health conditions. We need a bold, ambitious plan for dementia and it remains to be seen whether this is the route for that to happen.’
READERS' COMMENTS [12]
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So an announcement about a possible future announcement about another “strategy”. Great.
“Early intervention will reduce demand downstream on health”
This has been the hope ever since the founding of the NHS. As Copperfield points out, there is little evidence that it is true. Instead lives have been prolonged but morbidity has been prolonged too, increasing downstream demand.
Major conditions strategy,is that the one where you ingnore and dont talk about the issues effecting patient care and hope it goes away like the current rolling public sector strikes.Mr Barclay you’ve just lost the room.
Bound to work, especially like the long term plan & working together.
Too late for me, best of luck to those left
national service framworks! remember them
Well we have been waiting since at least 2017 for a workforce strategy. So the health minister should be told to keep his mouth shut until he can deliver on that promise first.
but without mandatory menopause training- no chance of any workforce strattegy working, no chance at all, ever
He said: ‘Our workforce model needs to adapt, reflecting that the NHS is caring for patients with increasingly complex needs and with multiple long-term conditions. We need greater emphasis on generalist medical skills to complement existing deep specialist expertise in the NHS, supporting clinical professionals to HEAL with whole-person care.’
Love the typo.
The Strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care, building on measures that we have already taken forward through the NHS Long Term Plan. Interventions set out in the Strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.
What is written at the end of the last sentence explains what the true reason for this ( possible ) initiative is.
The mentioned long term conditions are all very much in the realm of primary care . It is what GP’s and GP practices do- and have been doing for ever. And – of course- no mention of possible extra resources- only that ( if GP’s and primary care does their work well ) the rest of the NHS ie secondary and tertiary care will benefit.
Not sure what the current QoF status is but my guess is that that the conditions named already represent a high %’age of QoF points already. Any mention of £’s per QoF point being increased?
if you have strategies based on disease conditions then is there any room for a generalist ? and how do you manage the patients who fit into all the categories. there is an excellent book called range ( why generalists might be better than specialists )
but that is not the way of the world
ChatGpT prompt: In the style of a UK Secretary of State for Health please write an announcement for a plan to write a plan to tackle 5 major health conditions: cancers; cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and diabetes; chronic respiratory diseases; dementia; mental ill health; and musculoskeletal disorders.
ChatGpT response:
“My fellow citizens,
I am pleased to announce that the government will be developing a comprehensive plan to tackle some of the most pressing health issues facing our nation. Specifically, we will be focusing on cancers, cardiovascular diseases, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health, and musculoskeletal disorders.
We recognize that these conditions have a significant impact on the lives of individuals, families, and communities across the country, and we are committed to taking action to address them.
In order to develop this plan, we will be working closely with medical experts, patient groups, and other stakeholders to ensure that it is evidence-based and takes into account the needs of those affected by these conditions.
We understand that tackling these issues will require a multi-faceted approach, including prevention, early detection, and effective treatment. We will also be looking at ways to improve access to care and support services for those living with these conditions.
We are committed to making sure that every citizen has access to the best possible care and support, and we will not rest until we have made a real and lasting difference in the lives of those affected by these conditions.
Thank you.”
For those not in the know, chatgpt is a form of AI that can write essays and speeches etc for you…. Watch out, because soon it will be evolved to hand out medical advise and diagnoses……