Experts urge commissioners to invest in self management courses for patients with chronic disease

Clinical commissioning groups in England should recognise the value to patients and the potential cost savings to the NHS of increasing investment in self management courses for patients with long term conditions, a meeting convened by the Expert Patients Programme agreed last week.

The programme (www.expertpatients.co.uk), which was set up and financed by the Department of Health 10 years ago and contracted out to a social entrepreneur in 2004, is now run by a not for profit community interest group that deploys a large number of volunteers with experience of living with long term conditions. The self management courses aim …