GPs could prevent 8,000 strokes a year by monitoring patients’ heart rhythms, health watchdog says

August 1, 2016

Atrial fibrillation is a condition where a person’s heart beats irregularly
Increases risk of blood clotting and is thought to cause one in five strokes
Health watchdog NICE says it is missed and people are left untreated
Has introduced rules asking doctors to record when AF has been missed

Madlen Davies for MailOnline

Published:
10:24 EST, 1 August 2016

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Updated:
11:42 EST, 1 August 2016

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Some 8,000 strokes could be prevented every year if doctors monitored patients’ heart rhythms, health officials warned

Some 8,000 strokes could be prevented every year if doctors were better at treating a common heart problem, health officials claim.

Atrial fibrillation (AF) – a condition where a person’s heart beats irregularly, increasing the risk of blood-clotting – is a major cause of stroke, NICE said.

And yet patients with AF are often not diagnosed and do not receive the appropriate treatment, it said.

It is now introducing an indicator – a set of rules for health bodies to follow – asking Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) to record the number of people who have suffered a stroke and have not been receiving treatment for their AF.

It is estimated up to 470,000 adults with AF have not been diagnosed – meaning they are not receiving guidance to reduce the risk of having a stroke.

They are also not receiving potentially life-saving treatment, including blood thinners, it added.

Professor Danny Keenan, chair of NICE’s indicator advisory committee, said: ‘Effective treatment of atrial fibrillation can be the difference between life and death.

‘These indicators will help local commissioners to identify where people with atrial fibrillation have slipped through the cracks, and are not receiving the best treatment.

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‘It is only with data like this that we can properly assess the steps we need to take to ensure no-one at risk is left unchecked or untreated.’

Two AF-focused NICE indicators will be piloted for six months in 30 GP practices across the UK.

Doctors will be asked to identify people who have AF so that they can discuss and agree treatment options with their GP.

If effective, the indicators will be introduced permanently in 2017.

Atrial fibrillation – a condition where a person’s heart beats irregularly, increasing the risk of blood-clotting – is a major cause of stroke but is often left untreated, NICE said (file photo)

Stroke is the third largest cause of death in the UK, killing 110,000 people a year in England, NICE warned.

And AF is thought to cause one in five of these.

NICE is also introducing indicators asking doctors to measure patients’ BMI every five years to promote maintaining a healthy weight.

It will also ask medics to monitor children with diabetes through carrying out annual health checks, such as blood pressure and eye screening.

NICE is now asking Clinical Commissioning Groups to record the number of people who have suffered a stroke and have not been receiving treatment for AF (file photo)

And CCGs will have to record the number of adults admitted to hospital with a diabetes-related illness, such as heart failure or limb amputation.

Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive at NICE, said: ‘These indicators are a prime example of how NICE is working to enhance the quality of care in the NHS whilst recognising that we must use its scarce resources wisely.

‘If taken forward by NHS England, these indicators will help give us a national picture of how and where improvements are being made.

‘They will also be useful for CCGs and GPs to help improve public health one patient at a time.’