Public consultation launched on Major Conditions Strategy

News - 22 May 2023

The government has launched a public consultation to inform its Major Conditions Strategy, to help set actions needed over the next five years to improve diagnosis and management of people’s care.

What conditions does the strategy cover?
The strategy will cover:

  • cancers
  • mental ill health (apart from suicide, for which there’ll be a separate strategy)
  • cardiovascular diseases
  • respiratory diseases
  • dementia
  • musculoskeletal disorders.

What do we know already?
Evidence on cancer and mental health had already been collected by government from previous public consultations (via now-abandoned plans to have separate long-term strategies for these areas) and will inform this new exercise. Feedback from those earlier consultations has just been published and shows:

  • getting diagnosed quicker is the top priority on cancer care, followed by better awareness campaigns on signs and symptoms of cancer, especially those that are usually diagnosed in later stages and have non-specific symptoms that can be mistaken for other conditions
  • early intervention and access to services was the top priority for mental health, followed by prevention and crisis care and support, according to the mental health consultation.

What should consultation responses focus on?
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said its main focus now was to hear feedback on people’s experiences of care for the four other conditions (cardiovascular diseases, respiratory diseases, dementia and musculoskeletal disorders). It is also keen to hear the experience of people who live with more than one of the six conditions, to understand how their care is coordinated, and the disparities people experience due to gender, ethnicity or where they live.

How can you respond?
The DHSC is running an online survey until 27 June. It plans to publish an Easy Read version of the consultation material shortly. You don't need to resubmit evidence on mental health or cancer if you'd previously taken part in the earlier consultations on those areas.
The department plans to publish an interim report this summer before working up a full strategy for 2024.

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