Cardiovascular Disease (CVD)

Enhancing Heart Health: A Quality Improvement Initiative  

Discover how these activities can transform patient outcomes, streamline your practice's efficiency, and align your team with the highest healthcare standards. 

Step 1. Watch the webinar (recording on right hand resource panel)

Discover the latest clinical updates and explore holistic approaches to CVD prevention by watching the Primary Care Virtual Roadshow: Streamlining CVD Prevention Webinar. Learn practical applications, such as: 

• Adopting the latest CVD guidelines and risk calculator. 
• Implementing systematic heart health checks. 
• Utilizing resources like the Heart Health Check Toolkit and the My Health for Life program. 

Step 2. Health Assessments in CVD Management

Health assessments (Item 699/177) are crucial in identifying patients at risk of CVD and provide a comprehensive overview of a patient's health status, focusing on modifiable risk factors such as hypertension, cholesterol levels, and lifestyle factors. 

• Stay updated and adopt with the latest guidelines. 
• Incorporate healthy heart assessments as part of your regular patient visits.
• Utilise tools such as Primary Sense and the Heart Health Check Toolkit to identify at-risk patients.
• Engage the whole team and ensure team members understand their roles and responsibilities in CVD prevention.

Step 3: Choose Your Quality Improvement Activity

1. Simple BMI PDSA: This template guides you through recording BMI in your practice. It helps you identify patients at risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and this measurement is also necessary to meet accreditation requirements.  
2. My Health for Life PDSA: Encourage healthier living with our "My Health for Life" (MH4L) program. Our template makes referring patients to this program easier, helping them change behaviours to lower CVD risks.  
3. Mini audit heart health checks: Mini Audit and Template: Our Mini Audit will help you evaluate your practice against evidence-based standards and pinpoint improvement areas. The prefilled PDSA template simplifies implementing care strategies, leading to significant patient health and operational enhancements.  
4. Choose your adventure: Tailor your quality improvement efforts to match your practice's unique needs and goals. This option gives you the freedom to innovate and adapt as needed. 

Examples of PDSA and mini audit templates can be found on the right resource panel.

The Heart Foundation provides supporting information regarding CQI activities on their website. Training and education focused on improving cardiovascular care can be found on the clinical education webpage.

Get Support

Please reach out to our quality improvement and development engagement officers, via the Practice Support email and phone line for further support and guidance.