The information below relates to the CVD prevention pathway.

• Maintain and improve systematic collection and audit of data on cholesterol levels, high CVD risk and possible familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) in practices to support detection and management.
• Achieve local clinical consensus and establish an integrated pathway for detection and management of raised cholesterol and CVD risk, which includes FH.
  • Identify and investigate possible undiagnosed hypercholesterolaemia and/or FH.
  • Identify and address suboptimal lipid management.
• Commission local service for FH investigation and cascade testing.
• Work with practices and local authorities to maximise NHS Health Check uptake.
• Build local primary care leadership to address unwarranted variation and drive quality improvement in detection and management.
• Strengthen risk assessment, detection and management through greater use of practice-based and community pharmacists and consider commissioning systematic support specifically for statin adherence from community pharmacy through medicine use reviews (MURs).

Further information

• NICE pathway on CVD prevention
• Journal of Public Health: Do health checks improve risk factor detection in primary care? Matched cohort study using electronic health records
• Case study: Improved identification of familial hypercholesterolaemia in primary care
• Case study: BHF – Cascade testing services for familial hypercholesterolaemia
• Case study: Closing the gap: tools to tackle variation in cardiovascular disease

Download the CVD prevention pathway.