MULTIPLE-ILLNESS PATIENTS STRETCH GPS

HALF of all GP consultations are taken up by people with multiple chronic conditions, a study has found.

One in four adults in England had two or more long-term illnesses like high blood pressure or diabetes.

These patients take up the majority, or 53 per cent, of GP consultations and 78 per cent of prescriptions, researchers said.

Of the 400,000 patients studied, 155,488 were also admitted to hospital at least once during the four-year follow-up period.

Those patients with multi-morbidity, or with two or more chronic conditions, accounted for more than half of these hospital admissions.

The authors of the study, from the universities of Cambridge, Bristol and Utah, in the US, said NHS services were designed to treat single illnesses and should be changed to cope with the rising number of people with multiple long-term conditions.

Their report, in the British Journal Of General Practice, said: “As the majority of health care encounters are now with patients with multi-morbidity, all health professionals must be trained to manage the cumulative effects of more than one chronic condition.”

Professor Helen StokesLampard at the Royal College of GPs said: “GPs need much more time with our patients with complex needs, so we can properly consider their unique circumstances. This isn’t possible in 10 minutes.

“We need NHS England’s promise of £2.4billion extra a year for general practice to be delivered.”