Critical Analysis of Local and National Policies Surrouding Long Term Health Care Conditions

The aim of this essay is to critically analyse and appraise Local and National policies surrounding Long-Term health conditions (LTC) and complex care needs, which inform community practice. It is intended to critically appraise the complex care requirements of people with Heart Failure as the chosen LTC, outlining areas of care that need to be addressed by professionals utilising contemporary research and evidence based practice. As per the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) (2010) all identities of people and local trusts will be kept confidential.
It is important to understand what is meant by LTC’s and why it is an important topic to be addressed and understood as a district nurse student. WHO (2000) believed that nurses have an increasingly important role to play in tackling the public health challenges. District nurses are at the core of patient care, ensuring continuity of care and addressing changing health and social care needs, allowing patients to remain as independent as possible and in their own homes.
‘Long-Term Condition’ refers to a health problem that cannot be cured, however they can be managed by medication and other therapies (Snoddon, 2010) where as Margereson & Trenoweth (2010) state that long-term conditions are prolonged, they do not resolve spontaneously and they are rarely curable. It is felt that Snoddon’s (2010) definition portrays long-term conditions more positively and therefore more appropriate. Giving individuals hope that conditions can be managed to enable them to carry on living as independent as possible.
In 2008, Lord Darzi produced the Darzi report, (DH, 2008) which stated that the current population of over 75’s was 4.7million and he estimated that by 2031 this will increase by 3.5million...

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...irs the ability of the heart to function as a pump to support a physiological circulation” (NICE, 2003, p3). According to NICE (2003) HF is a major burden on the NHS, with a total annual cost of £716 million or 1.8% of total NHS budget largely due to the cost of hospitalisation. This cost has risen to 2% of the total budget (NICE, 2010). Not only does HF impact on the NHS it also increases the burden on other agencies and patients themselves (NICE, 2003).
NSF for Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)(2000) set out 12 evidence based standards, standard 11 is for diagnosis and treatment of HF. The standard states that people with suspected HF should be confirmed by appropriate investigations such as echocardiography. It also goes on to state that causes of confirmed HF should be identified and treatments should be offered to both relieve symptoms and reduce the risk of death.