Local IT solutions for Vascular Checks

Primary care trusts will need to develop their own informatics solutions for the national Vascular Checks programme that will begin next year, the Department of Health has said.

From April 2009, PCTs must start offering preventative vascular checks to all those aged 40-74 as part of a rolling programme that should be complete by 2012/13.

PCTs can choose their own delivery model, using GP practices, pharmacies or others for the service. The latest guidance from the DH says that ultimately the aim is for a national call and recall system to make sure the programme is offered to everyone is eligible.

However, it states this will not be available in the first years of the programme. In the meantime, PCTs will need to devise their own data recording and transfer solutions to ensure individuals’ GPs receive the results of their checks.

The guidance adds: “PCTs will also need to devise their own system to collect and collate core data to ensure that all sections of the community are participating in the programme and that additional effort is made to ensure that health inequalities are being narrowed.”

The DH says many PCTs already have measures in place, ranging from carbon-copy paper-based approaches to IT-based solutions. It says some case studies on PCT approaches will be made available on the Vascular Checks website.

The Vascular Checks programme was announced in April. It aims to prevent more than 2,000 deaths from heart attacks and strokes, to stop 4,000 people a year developing diabetes and detect at least 20,000 cases of diabetes and kidney disease.

The DH guidance says local versions of the vascular checks programme are already running in many PCTs, often funded as a locally enhanced service (LES).

Links

DH guidance on Vascular Checks programme

Vascular Checks website