We welcome the launch of the Coalition for Collaborative Care which brings together some of the most influential bodies in health and social care to champion the transformation of support provided for people with long-term health conditions.

More than 15 million people in the UK are living with a long-term condition. They are the biggest users of NHS services but they are spending a large amount of their own time managing their care and support.

The Coalition for Collaborative Care (C4CC) is a powerful alliance of partners within health, social care and the voluntary sector which is committed to ensuring people have the right support, knowledge, skills, power and confidence to co-design their care and live the lives they want. It will provide the opportunity for organisations to work more collaboratively across sectors, and more closely in partnership with one another, to have the greatest possible impact.

This innovative new alliance will focus on re-framing the relationship between a person with long-term health conditions and the professionals supporting them.  - This allows the expertise of both to be used most effectively to help the person plan to manage their condition and maximise their well-being.

The C4CC will also put a strong emphasis on a much more holistic approach in which there is less focus on the condition in isolation and more on the full spectrum of support that is required to enable people to be included in and play active, valued roles within their own communities - an approach developed by Nesta in its People Powered Health programme and often called 'More than Medicine'.

But achieving these challenging goals requires a big shift towards much greater use of these approaches to support people. Though some have been developed for a number of years now, they are still not happening at scale despite policy support and evidence showing they work.

C4CC is building a powerful movement for this change to fully realise the potential for person-centred care and collaborative care and support.  In Control is looking forward to supporting the Coalition in making this a reality for people with long-term health conditions.

Julie Stansfield, CEO for In Control, said: "Today marks the start of what I hope will be a complete shift in how people with long-term conditions are supported and I am pleased to see that self-directed support and person-centred care and support sits right at the very heart of this. For too long people have needed to reluctantly accept services that do not fit or do not work with multiple conditions, with no power in decision making. It is culturally very difficult to change. With the right attitudes and shift in power of decision making, we can start to turn the tide and ensure that people can be fully in control and start to self direct  the support their own lives."

Martin Routledge, has been seconded from In Control to take up the helm as director at the Coalition for Collaborative Care.

Commenting in his new position, Martin Routledge, said: "We want the Coalition to light the blue touch paper for big changes in how people with long term conditions and professionals work together to produce better lives. There is great potential for new and better ways that people's expertise can come together for improved outcomes.

"We are confident that the unique nature of our coalition - bringing key organisations and people from across the system and with lived experience into the room together with a clear focus and purpose - models the change we are trying to make. We believe we can have a real impact. But for deep, large scale change to happen we need all those who believe there is real potential for person-centred collaborative care to transform people's experience and use resources better to join us on this journey."

C4CC is developing plans for action over the coming months as well as launching a number of resources and activities. Membership and partnership with the Coalition is open to any individual or organisation with an interest in and commitment to achieving person-centred, co-ordinated care.

For more details about what C4CC is setting out to achieve and how you can be part of it, you can watch their video or read their vision documents (available in easy-read format and full) on the Coalition for Collaborative Care website.