Patients to be given greater support to manage their own care

Nearly two million patients with long-term conditions will be given greater support to manage their own care as part of a new deal agreed by NHS England.

The move comes as part of NHS England’s developing Self Care Programme and will give patients access to more person-centred care, thanks to the roll-out of an evidence-based tool over the next five years.

The Patient Activation Measure (PAM) us a validated tool that captures the extent to which people feel engaged and confident in managing their own health and wellbeing. NHS England says that measuring patients activation levels through this tool will help NHS organisations to tailor support and services to individual needs.

After trials in six areas, NHS England has now agreed a five year licence to expand the use of PAM for up to 1.8 million people.

Local NHS organisations are being invited for free access to patient activations licenses, which will help them assess patients’ ability to make decisions about their own care.

Dr Alf Collins, NHS England national clinical advisor, said: “Truly empowering patients to keep themselves well, manage their conditions and stay out of hospitals requires health professionals to understand the needs, the skills, and the confidence of the individual patient they are working with.

“The Patient Activation Measure shows real promise as a tool to achieve this, and I look forward to seeing how more local areas can use it in innovative ways to provide care which is more person-centred, delivering better outcomes for patients and better value for taxpayers.”