Government to consider new approach to cardiovascular disease

The government has launched a project to identify radical new approaches to preventing cardiovascular disease and therefore reduce pressure on the NHS.

Professor John Deanfield has been appointed as government champion for personalised prevention. Professor Deanfield is a Professor of Cardiology at University College London and led a review into the NHS Health Check in 2021. He has been asked by the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to explore and expand the role of technology, so people can better look after their health and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Professor Deanfield will will lead a Taskforce with expertise on health policy, health technology, behavioural science, big data, and health economics, which will develop a set of evidence-based recommendations to deliver a vision for a modern, personalised cardiovascular disease prevention service.

The taskforce will explore a range of ideas including the use of personalised data to better predict and prevent ill health, and look at how the latest health technology could be used to predict, prevent, diagnose and treat key risk factors for cardiovascular disease and other health conditions.

Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Steve Barclay said: "Technology is crucial to a forward-looking, modern NHS, and Professor Deanfield’s work will help us understand how people across the country could use it in their day-to-day lives and prevent cardiovascular disease.

"These conditions account for a quarter of a million hospital admissions a year, and costs the NHS billions of pounds - this ambitious project could see real impact on those who suffer from, or are at risk of this disease."

Professor Deanfield will put recommendations to the government which will identify new ways of predicting, preventing, diagnosing and treating major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, using the latest health technology, intelligence, and data; advise on how individuals, businesses, and public services could be incentivised to support prevention outside of the NHS; and predict and manage disease more effectively using personalised data.

The recommendations will also create new partnerships to innovate the way in which we deliver preventative services, bringing care closer to home and communities and identify how this vision for CVD prevention might impact on conditions with shared risk factors, such as diabetes and dementia.

Professor Deanfield said: "I am thrilled to continue my work with the government on cardiovascular disease prevention. This appointment provides a real opportunity to radically rethink our approach to cardiovascular health and disease prevention and I’m confident we have the right people around the table to do this.

"We intend to build on my recent review of the NHS Health Check and evolve this vision into an ongoing, life-long programme that empowers people to take control of predicting, managing and reducing their lifetime cardiovascular risk."

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