Delivering better services for people with long-term conditions

n The house of care model differs from others in two important ways: it encompasses all people with long-term conditions, not just those with a single disease or in high-risk groups; and it assumes an active role for patients, with collaborative personalised care planning at its heart. Implementing the model requires health care professionals to abandon traditional ways of thinking and behaving, where they see themselves as the primary decision-makers, and instead shifting to a partnership model in which patients play an active part in determining their own care and support needs.