Long-Term Conditions Programme update

Every month we will explore a different area of our programmes of work that are transforming services.   

This month we are pleased to highlight work that has started around the long-term conditions (LTC) programme. Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer screening, Diabetes and Respiratory have been identified as the four priority pathways for the overall programme.

One of the areas of focus for the programme for 2022/2023 is hypertension. There are currently around 52,000 patients across Morecambe Bay who are registered as having hypertension and it is estimated that there are approximately 40,000 undetected cases.  

Hypertension is a common condition in which the long-term force of the blood against your artery walls is high enough that it may eventually cause multiple LTC’s such as heart disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease. Factors that can increase a person’s risk of hypertension include obesity, smoking or poor diet.

 The Partners held the first of three workshops last month to look at how they can work closer together using a ‘Population Health’ approach to help prevent people from developing hypertension and support those who have the condition to better manage it. Feedback from the workshops will form an action plan going forward. We will update you on the next steps for the programme in a future edition of the newsletter.   

A graphic that shows the picture of LTC’s across Morecambe Bay can be found on the BHCP website here. 

‘Lived Experience’ reps

 We are keen to hear from people who have had ‘Lived Experience’ of an LTC to help shape the programme. If you would like to take part in upcoming workshops you can contact Lindsay Lewis, Senior Programme Manager, at Lindsay.Lewis@mbht.nhs.uk