CVDPREVENT is part of the goal in the NHS Long Term Plan to prevent 150,000 strokes, heart attacks and cases of dementia over the next ten years by improving the treatment of the high-risk conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and atrial fibrillation, which is an irregular heart beat.

Patients with these common conditions are more at risk of developing  cardiovascular disease (CVD) which includes heart attack, heart failure, stroke, and many cases of dementia. Although treatments have improved outcomes for affected patients, there are still many people who are undiagnosed or under treated, partly because these conditions often have no symptoms, and partly because treatment decisions are complex.

How CVDPREVENT benefits all patients

CVDPREVENT collects information from English GP practices about the heart and brain health of their patients. Making such data publicly available at a general practice level allows patients to make informed contributions to Patient Participation Groups (PPGs) and support local focus groups and improvement activities such as blood pressure monitoring.

CVDPREVENT helps people understand what is happening locally: how common certain heart and brain conditions and how well  these conditions are being diagnosed and treated.  It highlights any local differences between the age, gender and ethnic group of people living in that area.

CVDPREVENT recognises that most patients want to be in control of their overall health with support from their local surgery and pharmacy., The publicly-accessible data that CVDPREVENT provides, encourages patients to speak to their doctor or pharmacist about how best to work with them to improve their own health and well-being.

CVDPREVENT will continue to work with patients to design the audit and support patients to use data locally to reduce early deaths from heart attacks, strokes and dementia due to heart and circulation disorders.

The patient panel

We have recruited and manage the 35 members of the patient panel that is part of CVDPREVENT. They are from all seven English NHS regions and between them have experiences of the six high risk conditions the audit focuses on.

The panel's aims are to:

• Provide guidance to the project from a patient and carer point of view
• Keep the design, development, and delivery of the CVDPREVENT audit centred on patients
• Advise on how information is produced; review and comment on drafts and raise awareness
• Promote the key messages and learning from the audit to improve the health outcomes for patients and carers and increase heart and brain health and wellbeing at a national, local and community level.

Further information

CVDPREVENT is delivered by NHS Benchmarking Network, the Office for Health Improvement & Disparities (OHID) - National Cardiovascular Intelligence Network (NCVIN) team, and NHS Digital.

The audit is commissioned by the Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) as part of the National Clinical Audit and Patient Outcomes Programme (NCAPOP) and funded by NHS England & NHS Improvement. 

You can visit CVDPREVENT at: www.nhsbenchmarking.nhs.uk/cvdpreventlanding

You can email NHS Benchmarking about CVDPrevent at: [email protected]

11th July 2022