This evening, at about 18.15, I am speaking to the NHS Alliance conference in Bournemouth. My theme tonight, as it has been for some time now, is how the NHS can develop better public value by viewing people with long-term conditions as ‘assets’ rather than as ‘costs’.
I spoke about this at the NAPC in October and will do so again at the Alliance. What is important for today’s audience is to underline practically how GP commissioners need to commission interventions that increase a patient’s capacity to self-manage. Just as other sorts of healthcare cost money, so does this form of provision. Although it’s a lot cheaper than a stay in a hospital emergency bed (in fact almost everything is a lot cheaper than an emergency bed stay in a hospital) it still needs to be commissioned rather than expecting it to happen for free.
