The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 269 No 7218 p469
5 October 2002

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Primary care CHD collaborative programme has saved 800 lives

Over 800 lives have been saved as a result of improvements made in coronary heart disease (CHD) care through the National Health Service's National Primary Care Collaborative (NPCC) programme.

Early results from an analysis of primary care trust mortality data for 1999–2000 show that CHD deaths in PCTs involved in the first and second waves of the NPCC fell by over 1,000 — four times more than that seen in PCTs not involved in the programme.

A report from the NPCC, covering the first two years of the collaborative, says this translates to just over 800 lives saved in participating PCTs, compared with the rest of England. Furthermore, replicating this improvement across the whole of England would mean nearly 6,000 fewer CHD deaths a year. Currently, there are around 1,000 general practices involved in the collaborative.

NPCC director Dr John Oldham said: "It is a real demonstration of what primary care practice-based teams can achieve. By the end of the year, every primary care trust will have practices going through the programme."

The NPCC says the improvements have come as a result of rigorous and regular measurement. Four measures, reported on a monthly basis, are used as indicators of improving CHD care within participating general practices — the percentage of CHD patients taking aspirin and statins, the percentage of post-MI patients taking beta-blockers and the percentage of patients who have blood pressure below 140/85mmHg. However, Dr Oldham said some of the work within practices, which has involved pharmacists in some areas, has also looked more closely at the medication regimens of CHD patients. "Some people have been looking at using pharmacists to monitor this sort of thing as part of the process, and pharmacists have also been acting as reminders for people to come in and get their regular check-ups. This has undoubtedly helped to achieve some of the improvements we have seen," he added.