The NICE indicators consultation is currently live and will be open until the end of the month. This is a combination of CCG indicators and QOF indicators as well as some other indicators for GPs which will not carry incentives.
You can read my response here but there is nothing particularly inspiring. Perhaps of most concern is a suggestion of a atrial fibrillation screening scheme that is not supported by the National Screening Committee or even the NICE guidelines although the consultation document does make it sound like the NICE guidelines say something else. Ooops!
2 comments:
you say the AF screening isn't supported, but gives a feeling that is. In your opinion is the screening effective or not? My CCG has high levels of admission for stroke and AF issues, so anything that may improve our lot could be welcomed.
Thanks Sean
There has been quite a detailed examination of the evidence for screening by the National Screening Committee (see link above or here). I would strongly reccommend reading their report as it looks closely at the current evidence. One crucial point made in the report is that it is not clear that AF found in screening carries the same level of risk as symptomatic patients. There is even a little evidence that it is different.
The is no NICE recommendation although we would not expect one as screening does not fall within NICE's remit so we cannot take their silence one way or the other.
The numbers are pretty tight for the benefits of anticoagulation so any change to the baseline risk can tip things for or against quite easily.
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