Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the management of long-term conditions.

Improving health outcomes for people who live with long-term conditions is a key part of our mission to build a National Health Service fit for the future.

We have committed to delivering a 10-Year Health Plan which will set out a bold agenda to deliver on the three big shifts needed to move NHS healthcare from hospital to the community, analogue to digital, and treatment to prevention. We will be carefully considering input from the public, patients, health staff, and stakeholders as we develop the plan which will include a focus on how to improve the management of long-term conditions, over the coming months.

The implementation of Secure Data Environments (SDEs) allowing NHS data to be accessed through secure platforms rather than shared with researchers, will support safer and more secure access to health and care data for secondary uses, such as research into prevalence and impact. This is being delivered by major investment in digital infrastructure across the NHS in England, including the NHS Research SDE Network funded by the Data for Research and Development programme.

The Single Patient Record will give clinicians in different settings access to the comprehensive records on person's health, so that they have the information they need to make the best-informed decisions when delivering care and treatment.

Most services for long-term conditions are commissioned locally by integrated care boards (ICBs). ICBs have a statutory responsibility to commission services which meet the needs of their local population. It is the responsibility of ICBs, working with clinicians, service users and patient groups, to develop services and care pathways that are convenient and meet patients’ needs.

As announced by the Prime Minister on 13 March 2025, the Government is abolishing NHS England. That will put the NHS back at the centre of Government to focus on patients’ experience, less bureaucracy and on cutting waiting times at hospitals. Part of these considerations will include how national and local governance arrangements work together to improve health outcomes for NHS patients locally, including those with long-term conditions.