Help shape future research priorities for care for people with multiple long-term conditions

A survey has been launched to get people’s views on how to improve care for people with more than one long-term health condition. The survey is open to anyone with relevant lived or professional experience. All responses will help shape future research priorities.

The project, funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), working in partnership with the James Lind Alliance (JLA), is being led by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter.

Why this matters

The number of people living with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) is increasing, creating new challenges for individuals, families, carers, health and social care services, and wider society. Yet many important questions remain unanswered about how care for people with MLTC should be organised and delivered.

The MLTC Priority Setting Partnership (PSP) brings together people with lived experience, unpaid carers, healthcare professionals, social care staff, voluntary sector organisations, researchers, and policymakers to identify and prioritise unanswered questions that matter most.

About the survey

The short public survey will gather views from:

  • people living with multiple long-term conditions
  • family members and unpaid carers
  • health, social care, voluntary sector, policy, and research professionals.

The survey asks about what matters most in how care is organised and delivered for people living with multiple long-term conditions. This could include experiences of joined-up care, accessing support, communication between services, involvement in decisions, and how care works in everyday life.

The findings will be used to identify and prioritise future research questions, helping ensure that future studies focus on issues that are most important to those directly affected.

Dr Rachel Johnson, Associate Professor in Primary Care at the Centre for Academic Primary Care, University of Bristol, who is leading the survey, said: “Many people live with more than one long-term condition, yet health and care services are mostly designed for single conditions. People who live with long-term conditions, and the people who care for them, are often not involved in designing services. We want to hear about people's experience of services so we can make sure that future research addresses their priorities."

Spread the word

The partnership is encouraging organisations, networks, and individuals to help share the survey widely to ensure diverse perspectives are represented.

Download the Survey flyer (PDF, 502kB).

For more information, please contact: mltc@exeter.ac.uk

Take the survey

Further information

About the Centre for Academic Primary Care

The Centre for Academic Primary Care (CAPC) at the University of Bristol is a leading centre for primary care research in the UK, one of ten forming the NIHR School for Primary Care Research. It sits within Bristol Medical School, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for population health research and teaching.

We work with patients and the public to make sure our research in primary care focuses on what really matters to people and communities. 

Follow on Bluesky: @capcbristol.bsky.social and LinkedIn.

About the NIHR

The mission of the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. We do this by:

  • Funding high quality, timely research that benefits the NHS, public health and social care;
  • Investing in world-class expertise, facilities and a skilled delivery workforce to translate discoveries into improved treatments and services;
  • Partnering with patients, service users, carers and communities, improving the relevance, quality and impact of our research;
  • Attracting, training and supporting the best researchers to tackle complex health and social care challenges;
  • Collaborating with other public funders, charities and industry to help shape a cohesive and globally competitive research system;
  • Funding applied global health research and training to meet the needs of the poorest people in low and middle income countries.

NIHR is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care. Its work in low and middle income countries is principally funded through UK Aid from the UK government.