Eccles and Irlam will be the home of a new innovative pilot aimed to help identify those residents at risk of Atrial Fibrillation (AF), a major cause of strokes.
GP Practices in these neighbourhoods will be equipped with a hand-held AF detection device called the AliveCor Mobile ECG, which can be used alongside an every-day smartphone to help identify those residents at risk of developing AF. The test is simple and painless, and patients are simply asked to hold the device for 30 seconds with the smartphone picking up the readings which then allows instant detection and diagnosis.
AF is a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. Although its cause isn’t fully understood, it does affect seven in every 100 people aged over 65, and is more common in men.
The pilot in Eccles and Irlam was made possible thanks to funding from NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) with support by Greater Manchester Academic Health Science Network (GM AHSN).
Dr Mhairi Yates, a GP in Eccles and clinical lead for innovation at Salford CCG said:
“Risks from AF can be treated quite easily if identified, but can cause problems if not picked up early.
“If undetected AF can go on to cause a severe stroke which leads to more disabling symptoms than those strokes caused by hypertension (high blood pressure).
“Adults aged over 40 visiting practices in Eccles and Irlam for routine appointments will be offered a screening procedure as part of their routine appointment.”
One of the priorities of GM AHSN is to reduce AF-related strokes and it has developed a benchmarking tool to help CCGs identify those patients that may be at risk of AF.
Jane Macdonald, director of nursing and implementation at GM AHSN, commented:
“We’re delighted to be supporting Salford CCG in this project. We know that AF is the most common sustained cardiac arrhythmia, and estimates suggest its prevalence is increasing.
“If left untreated it increases the risk of stroke five-fold. If together we can work to identify patients at risk of AF we can make a significant improvement in people’s life expectancy.”
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