 People with long-term conditions often have complex health and social care needs. If they are to be helped to stay in their own homes and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, they often need several different kinds of support. In the past this sometimes led to them being offered a bewildering range of treatment and care. But now proactive care is improving lives by bringing professionals together in one team and delivering the right help to the right place at the right time. It's where a multidisciplinary team which is made up of GPs, community matrons, district nurses, social workers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists all kind of come together to look at patient care and what we can do for our patients. The type of help required very much depends on individual needs and this is where proactive care is improving lives. It's about putting the patient at the centre and the heart of it. We then discuss their cases as a team and find a way forward really to sort of prevent hospital admissions. We do have a fast-aging population in West Sussex and we want to be able to provide for everybody in their later life. Proactive care is really aimed at those with the greatest risk of hospital admissions. We must keep the whole system flowing and work together as a whole health and social care system and as well as it being far better for patients to be able to be cared for and treated in the community we can help to keep the hospitals coping with the grave numbers of older people in that way too. Alan Saunders is a World War II veteran. After the raid on Dieppe he spent over three hours swimming for his life in the English Channel under enemy fire. Now over 90 he faces a battle of a different kind and is full of praise for the help he has received from his proactive care team. It's great for old folk. The object meant to keep you out of hospital. You tend to service at home, get you working, keep you in your home. That's one of the main things isn't it when you get old, when you get to stay in your own home. That is so important. I think the patients find it a really beneficial service because they know that we are working as part of a team to try and work with them in the best way possible. The team are aware of the patient and the same questions aren't asked over and over again. There is planning as well, contingency planning so the patient feels supported in their home. It also helps to support the informal carers that are working with our patients in as much as they feel like they have the support from the right people within the team. Paul Eisinger was a company director and he has also reaped enormous benefits from proactive care. Let's say six months ago when Sheila started coming in to treat me, call it what you like, without proactive care for want of a better word which I didn't have a clue what it was right. I think I'd have still been another year finding my feet. It was lovely to hear those comments from both Alan and Paul. Alan commented just how glad he was to be in his own home and that kind of comment is very typical of the feedback that we get from customers. I thought what was very interesting and very enlightening about Paul's comments was that he really didn't mind too much what the job title of the professional was or what we call the team that provides his care. All he knew was that he thought his rehabilitation was about a year ahead of where it would have been without that multidisciplinary input. Proactive care is being rolled out across West Sussex. It has already changed many people's lives for the better and is all set to change many more in the future.