What is Care Planning?

Care Planning is a term used to describe the way care is organised and delivered.  It involves people with long term conditions working with those delivering their care to make joint decisions and agree how their health and wellbeing will be managed.  This creates an opportunity for you to feel more in control of your health.

So what does this mean for me?

Before your appointment:

You will be asked to attend the surgery or clinic about two weeks before your yearly review appointment to have all your checks and measurements done.  This may be with a Healthcare Assistant.

These results will be available online via patient access before your yearly review appointment.  This will give you the chance to be able to think about what the results mean to you and what you might like to discuss.

At your yearly appointment:

You will be able to discuss your results and talk about what is important to you.  You will both have an opportunity to raise concerns, talk about any risks and explore what options may be available for you to manage your long term condition.

It is fine for you to ask questions, it is also okay to say if there is anything you are not sure about.

By the end of the appointment you will have a plan that has been agreed jointly.  You might hear this being called your ‘Care Plan’ or ‘Action Plan’.

Why change things?

It is important that you know how to manage your condition(s) and that you get the right amount of support to help you to do this.  This is more likely to happen if you have the best possible experience when you attend for your review appointment.

What if I don’t like this way of receiving my care?

We hope that this way of delivering your care will allow you the opportunity to be more involved in making decisions and more able to have a say in what support you need.  For some people this might feel difficult at first.  Care planning is not about making you do something that you don’t feel comfortable with – it recognises that some people will want more control over their care than others.

If you have any concerns or feel unsure about the way your appointment is happening it is important that you discuss this with Practice Nurse or General Practitioner at Unity Health.  They may be able to help you with the things that you are finding difficult so that you can talk about how you can work together to make things easier or find an alternative way of receiving your care.

Your first care planning appointment in the month of your birth

1. When you receive your letter call and book an appointment with the Healthcare Assistant.
2. The Healthcare Assistant will check your BP, and take blood and other relevant checks tailored to your care – they will then book you a ‘care planning‘ appointment with the nurse or GP.
3. Before you attend your care planning appointment go online to view your results.
4. You attend your annual ‘care planning’ appointment.