Advances in health care mean a longer life expectancy for many patients, however quality of life has not improved proportionately. Sana Zakaria looks at the pressures to provide health care for a rapidly ageing population living with multiple comorbidities.

By 2018, it is predicted that about three million people will be living with multiple long-term conditions, which will cost the NHS and social care an extra £5 billion (Department of Health [DH], 2012a). Cardiovascular disease is a long-term condition affecting around seven million people in the UK, and is often accompanied by a plethora of other conditions in the ageing population. Cardiovascular disease was responsible for nearly 30% of all deaths in the UK in 2013, and is one of the largest causes of disability in the country (DH, 2013).