The ‘Identifying Undiagnosed Atrial Fibrillation (AF) in Meir Primary Care Network (PCN) Don’t Risk It’ programme of work aimed to support Meir PCN in Northern Staffordshire, via face to face and online training sessions, with a specific focus on identifying and managing undiagnosed AF.
In England about 1.4 million people have AF of whom around 500,000 are thought to be undiagnosed; 270,000 people over 65 years old have undiagnosed AF. The risk of stroke is five times higher for people with AF which can further burden the individual in a myriad of ways alongside the physical effects of stroke.
The programme, in collaboration with Daiichi Sankyo, aimed to expand the implementation, adoption and dissemination of the use of technology enabled care and using digital tools within Meir PCN primary care teams with a specific focus on diagnosing and monitoring new cases of AF.
As part of the training and development of PCN staff, 20 members of the PCN were provided with a KardiaMobile AliveCor 6 lead device for taking an ECG, along with a blood pressure device and supporting digital aids books. The digital aids books were also provided to all attendees at the public and practice events.
Strikingly, there were 125 new cases of AF diagnosed within 9 months of the study running. This is a significant finding for those affected, who have since started various regimens and follow-ups for their condition.
Raparu is proud and excited to have the chance to share these findings with clinicians nationwide when our co-director Dr Ruth Chambers OBE attends the RCGP conference in Liverpool in October.
Dr Chambers will no doubt share her insights from the conference, for now take a look at the poster which succinctly summarises the work done in Meir PCN to promote the knowledge and diagnosis of AF.
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