Tag Archives: optimal care
July 2009 Br J Cardiol 2009;16:187–91
Follow your heart: optimal care after a heart attack – a guide for you and your patients
Fran Sivers, Alan Begg, David Milne, Jonathan Morrell, Dermot Neely, Michael Norton, Michaela Nuttall, Malcolm Walker, Brian Ellis, Cathy Ratcliffe, Andrew Thomas, Ruth Bosworth, Seleen Ong, on behalf of the Follow Your Heart Steering Group
Introduction Coronary heart disease (CHD) remains the leading cause of mortality in the UK with over 94,000 attributable deaths in 2006,1 the majority of which were the result of a myocardial infarction (MI). Approximately half of those who suffer an MI die within 28 days,2 however, with modern technology, procedures and new drugs, increasing numbers survive a heart attack, resulting in 1.4 million post-MI survivors in the UK.3 If patients do not receive optimal post-MI care, the individual and socio-economic burden is significant. In monetary terms this is estimated to be around £9 billion per year when both direct and indirect costs are in
May 2009 Br J Cardiol 2009;16:142–6
Post-MI clinical guidelines: variation in availability, development, content and implementation across the UK
Seleen Ong, David Milne, Jonathan Morrell, on behalf of the Follow Your Heart Steering Committee
Introduction Clinical guidelines are becoming an increasingly important component of clinical practice across Europe as governments, while facing spiralling healthcare costs, still have to maintain an overriding commitment to their citizens to provide best possible medical care. As systematically developed statements that incorporate research evidence and expert consensus views, clinical guidelines represent a means of assisting practitioners and patients on decisions about appropriate healthcare for specific circumstances.1 Adherence to clinical guidelines, thus, will help to reduce practice variation, raise standards of care, improve effici
For healthcare professionals only
