ABSTRACT
Over the last few decades, the burden of ill health in westernised countries has moved from a burden of acute illness to a burden of long-term disease such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Services for those with longterm diseases need to be structured differently from those appropriate for short-lived acute, usually infectious illness, and long-term medical conditions need more attention being paid to
l good communication, l partnerships of care, l giving control, where possible, to the patient, l group support, and l convenient follow-up.
