COVID-19 has undoubtedly had an impact on Primary Care and the full impact of this is only now emerging. Primary Care now faces a huge backlog of unmet patient need, with patients facing long waits for treatment. During this recovery phase, there is an opportunity to create a healthier, more resilient society, by ensuring patients are provided with the tools to be able manage their long term conditions better. Part of the wider strategy to assist recovery aims to enable Primary Care to be furnished with tools that will allow risk stratification of their patients with long term conditions. This approach will allow practices to prioritise patients who are at the highest risk of an exacerbation and intervene in a proactive way. In order for Primary Care to rise to the challenge and provide a consistent standard of care to all patients, it is essential there is a step change in the way patients with long term conditions are supported and their care managed. There is now a greater emphasis on workforce and allowing skill mix in general practice to help address the backlog that Primary Care is now facing.(6) This approach will allow patients to be seen quickly, efficiently and by the most appropriate healthcare clinician.

UCL Partners have developed and defined search and stratification tools to support primary care teams prioritise care appropriately for people with long-term conditions.  These tools can be used to stratify patients into low, medium, and high-risk of deterioration to help practices with the recovery work.

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