Vulnerable elderly patients will get a single doctor or nurse to track their NHS care Jeremy Hunt wants clinician to oversee patient treatment out of hospital From next year people will know who to contact with a treatment query Many currently can't speak to anyone who understands their situation He will also announce the setting up of new body Genomics England Idea: Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt will announce the setting up of new body Genomics England Every elderly patient with a long-term health condition will be assigned a doctor or nurse to track their care through the NHS, Jeremy Hunt will announce today. The Health Secretary wants a named clinician to be responsible for overseeing the treatment of vulnerable pensioners while they are out of hospital - whether they live at home or in residential care. It will mean that from next year, older people and their families will always know who to contact when they have a question about their treatment. At present, many feel they are passed from pillar to post and never speak to anyone who fully understands their situation. Mr Hunt will say that just as a consultant is in charge of a patient's care in hospital, so a GP, community doctor or nurse should be put in charge of an older person's care out of hospital. This will mean that every element of their treatment is tailored around their needs whether they have one, two, three or more long-term conditions, or are trying to settle back at home after a fall. Long-term conditions could be those needing treatment with courses of drugs or regular tests at hospital or a local surgery. It should mean over-65s who suffer from conditions such as asthma, diabetes, kidney disease or angina receive better care. Knowing how to contact: Mr Hunt wants a named clinician to be responsible for overseeing the treatment of vulnerable pensioners while they are out of hospital - whether they live at home or in residential care Local NHS bodies will decide which clinician should be given the responsibility of dealing with a patient. It could be the patient's GP but in many cases, they will not be the best person because a patient may be dealing with doctors in hospitals more often. The Health Secretary has told NHS England to have named clinicians in place from next April. Mr Hunt will say: "The challenge today is to provide integrated, coordinated out-of-hospital care, something where the NHS, with our tradition of family doctors and primary care, could lead the world. But to do that we need to know that there is a clinician accountable for vulnerable older people in the community just as there is a consultant responsible for them in hospital. As a member of the public I would like that to be my GP - but whoever it is they should be named so that patients, families and carers all know where the buck stops. We are proposing to ask NHS England to make sure there is a named clinician responsible for every vulnerable older person whether or not they are in hospital. Mr Hunt will make the announcement as the NHS celebrates its 65th anniversary today. But he will also take time to explain why it needs to change with the times. Treatment: The plan should mean over-65s who suffer from conditions such as asthma, diabetes, kidney disease or angina receive better care He will say: "As we celebrate, we also reflect. The world today is very different to 1948. The old model was curable illnesses where you were sent into hospital unwell and came out better. Yet most people now leave hospital with long-term conditions which need to be supported and managed at home. Fully one-quarter of the population now has a chronic condition... all of whom need radically different models of care to what the NHS has been accustomed to. The old model was curable illnesses where you were sent into hospital unwell and came out better Mr Hunt will also announce the setting up of a new body, Genomics England. By December, Britain will be the first country in the world to sequence the genomes of up to 100,000 patients within five years, to improve our understanding of disease and to design treatments better tailored to individuals. It comes as Mr Hunt reiterated his support for the abortion limit to be cut to 12 weeks, saying in an interview with Commons magazine House that if there is a free vote on the issue in the coming years, "I will always vote with my conscience." He added: "But as Secretary of State I will implement whatever it is Parliament decides on, even if it's not what I personally believe." And he agreed with crossbencher Baroness Finlay who last week called for the Liverpool Care Pathway to have a name change, because it sounded like a "one-way ticket" to death. "I think that is quite a good point," he said.