Health and Social Care Committee

Inquiry into Stroke Risk Reduction

SRR 26 – Royal College of General Practitioners Wales

September 2011

To: Health and Social Care Committee, National Assembly for Wales

Inquiry into Stroke Risk Reduction

The Royal College of General Practitioners is the largest membership organisation in the United Kingdom solely for GPs. It aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and to act as the ‘voice’ of GPs on issues concerned with education, training, research, and clinical standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has over 44,000 members, 1,841 in Wales, who are committed to improving patient care, developing their own skills and promoting general practice as a discipline.

The College in Wales welcomes the opportunity to respond to this consultation.

Whilst RCGP Wales welcomes the Welsh Governments strategy on stroke reduction, there is a real risk of duplication of effort and cost in its implementation.

The majority of the patients at risk are already targeted through existing services, especially smoking cessation, blood pressure checks and health reviews for other conditions in which cardiovascular risk is increased. We also question whether there is any genuine evidence to suggest that screening for atrial fibrillation is effective.

Yours faithfully

Dr Bridget Osborne

Chair

RCGP Wales