This morning the Government announced plans for the NHS to introduce a systematic and integrated programme of vascular risk assessment and management for those aged between 40 and 74. It released a document (link below) which explains in more depth what vascular disease is, why undertaking risk assessment and management is important, and how these checks might be performed throughout England.
It calls for stakeholders to work with the Department of Health to help develop the approach to implementation and delivery over the next few months and in due course the NKF and others will hear more detail about the ways in which we can engage in this work.
More details on the announcement and publication can be found on the DH website at the following address:
Also copied below is the press release that was issued to co-incide with the announcement.
Working for Better Kidney Care
- Vascular checks will prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes
- Everyone aged between 40 - 74 offered checks
A national programme to identify vulnerability to vascular diseases will prevent up to 9,500 heart attacks and strokes every year and save 2,000 lives, Health Secretary Alan Johnson announced today.
Collectively, vascular diseases - heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease - affect the lives of more than four million people and kill 170,000 every year. They also account for more than half the mortality gap between rich and poor.
Initial results from modelling work carried out by the Department shows that a vascular check programme would prevent 4,000 people a year from developing diabetes. It could also detect at least 25,000 cases of diabetes or kidney disease earlier, allowing cases to be better managed and improving outcomes.
Alan Johnson said:
“As we look to the future of the NHS in its 60th anniversary year, our vision is to create a modern service that meets the unique challenges of today’s society.
“The case for a national programme of vascular checks is compelling. We could prevent 9,500 heart attacks and strokes every year and save 2,000 lives. It would also reduce the health inequalities that blight the lives of the country’s most deprived families.
“The NHS is becoming more personal and responsive to individual needs; becoming as good at prevention and keeping people healthy as it is at providing care and cures; and able to offer the information and support people need to make healthy choices.
“This is an NHS that is properly equipped to face the challenges of the next 60 years.”
We are today setting out our evidence for a national vascular check programme in Putting Prevention First. Everyone between the ages of 40 and 74 will be entitled to the checks.
The checks would be based on straightforward questions and measurements such as age, sex, family history, height, weight and blood pressure. They would also include a simple blood test to measure cholesterol.
Everyone would receive a personal assessment report, setting out not only the person’s level of risk, but exactly what they could do to reduce it. For those at low risk, this might be no more than general advice on how best to stay healthy. Others may be assisted to join a weight management programme or a stop smoking service. Those at the highest risk might also require preventative medication with statins or blood pressure treatment.
Associate Chief Medical Officer Bill Kirkup said:
“We aim to make vascular checks to be available in a variety of convenient places. These could include GP surgeries, pharmacies or other community settings. This programme can make a major contribution to preventing early death and disability, and it is vital that it reaches as many people as possible.
“We are also determined to tackle the inequalities in health, and vascular diseases are the main cause. All too often, people with the worst health have the poorest access to GPs. We want a system that will encourage them to take part, and help to reduce the health gap between rich and poor.”
We intend to begin implementation in 2009/10. We will now work with our key partners across the NHS, the medical profession and the voluntary sectors in drawing up a national system that works for them and patients.
Our initial modelling suggests that the annual costs will be in the region of £250 million per year. This includes the cost of the checks themselves as well as the NHS care likely to result from the checks once the proposals are fully implemented across the NHS. However, these figures depend on the details of implementation and levels of demand. We will refine these costings as we continue to design an implementation system with our partners.
We have put aside resources from the health budget and we are committed to providing this funding to the NHS to support this critical shift towards prevention.
Anne Mackie, Director of the UK National Screening Committee, said:
“The UK National Screening Committee welcomes the priority that the government has placed on implementing its recommendations in England. We will now work with stakeholders and the public to develop robust implementation plans. We will particularly focus on how we can make this accessible to the whole population and reduce inequalities in vascular health.”
The Department also announced today the extension of a scheme to help patients on low incomes with the costs of travelling to health care appointments. Currently, patients on low incomes and in receipt of certain means-tested benefits are eligible for help in meeting the costs of travelling to receive hospital-based treatment. This follows referral by a consultant as part of the Hospital Travel Costs Scheme.
As health care services are increasingly delivered outside of hospitals, financial help toward travel costs will, from today, be available to all patients who meet the criteria and are referred by doctors and dentists for traditionally hospital-based treatments wherever these are carried out. To reflect this change, the scheme is being renamed as the Healthcare Travel Costs Scheme.
The expanded travel costs scheme means that patients will be able to choose where they access the healthcare that best suits their needs without having to worry about the travel costs involved.
Page created: 2 April 2008
Last updated: 17 April 2008
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