Here are some frequently asked questions about long term conditions.
What are long term conditions?
We define a long term condition as something that can’t be cured at the moment, but can be controlled by medication and/or other therapies. This definition covers lots of different conditions.
What are you going to do with people’s comments on the strategy?
We will read and consider all of the comments on the strategy. Your honest thoughts, opinions and ideas are vital to help us make the strategy as relevant as possible.
How will the long term conditions strategy fit with other strategies?
This strategy will build on and work with existing strategies, not rewrite them. The long term conditions strategy will be cross-government, which means it can tie together existing initiatives and bring together different organisations to focus on shared goals.
How will the principles of the strategy be put into action?
The strategy will be a high level vision, describing how we want to see improvements in the lives of people with long term conditions. The implementation of the strategy will be the responsibility of a range of different organisations including the NHS Commissioning Board, local authorities, health and wellbeing boards and government departments.
Are you going to produce separate strategies for different conditions?
No, we aren’t going to produce strategies for individual conditions. The long term conditions strategy will cover all long term conditions. We want to set out how we can support people with long term conditions and prevent or delay these conditions where possible. Although we recognise that some conditions may lead to specific problems, there are lots of issues that are common to many different long term conditions and the strategy will focus on these.
