SE Lipids Management success

More than 400 people registered for last week’s South-East Lipids Management webinar, which was the first in a series of cardiovascular disease (CVD) education events run by Kent Surrey and Sussex, Wessex and Oxford AHSNs.

Jen Bayly, Principal Consultant, CVD Prevention, KSS AHSN, helped to organise the session and in this blog she reflects on the importance of the work and the next steps in the programme.

It is now widely established from large outcome studies that lowering cholesterol leads to the prevention of cardiovascular disease and mortality. This has highlighted the need to prioritise lipid and FH management with optimal dyslipidaemia treatment along with lifestyle changes.

Nationally, the AHSN Network has been commissioned by NHSE/l to deliver a programme across England aimed at Lipid Management and identification of Familial Hypercholesteremia (FH).

As part of this the three south-east AHSNs – Kent Surrey Sussex, Wessex, and Oxford – have developed a combined cardiovascular disease programme, allowing them to work collaboratively to support the region’s Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) and the Long Term Plan aims through:

• improving detection of familial hypercholesterolaemia
• ensuring a consistent, national approach to lipid management
• using the NICE approved Lipid Management Pathway
• improving access to rapid uptake products for eligible patients, including high intensity statins, ezetimibe, bempedoic acid, PCSK9 inhibitors and Inclisiran.

The inaugural webinar on May 5 looked at the recently NICE approved lipid management pathway across the six south-east ICSs, focussing on the whole pathway implementation.

We were delighted to see so many people join the event to hear from the excellent speakers who shared a regional and national perspective, and there was great interaction and input throughout.

Helen Williams, National Specialty Advisor for CVD Prevention, NHSE/I, gave a really informative session on the lipid optimisation pathway and novel therapies that highlighted the unmet need in Lipid Management, with 7.6 million people in England living with CVD.

Of these, 1.9 million people may not be on a statin and 2.3 million people are on low or medium intensity statin which may require review to optimise treatment.

All of the speakers highlighted the importance of optimal lipid management as part of the overall approach to the prevention and management of CVD, and we heard from clinical practitioners on their experiences in managing patients using the revised lipid management pathway.

The recording of the May 5 event will be time stamped and, along with the full slide deck, be made available on the South-East Cardiovascular Resource Hub Workspace on NHS Futures in the next week. This Hub provides clinicians with the opportunity to access a wide range of CVD resources, to share learning and best practice to support embedding these practices locally. If you’re yet to join, you can register here.

We are now planning a series of further CVD education events across the south-east, with content based on feedback from each previous session.

Delegates at the May 5 event told us how helpful it was to be able to talk through the NICE approved Lipid pathway alongside case studies, so we will be organising more practical bitesize education sessions to support clinicians as part of the CVD learning series.

On behalf of the three AHSNs, thank you for your interest in this initiative, and we’re really keen to continue to support your work in this area. To that end, please do contact your local AHSN to find out more about how they can support you:

Kent Surrey and Sussex AHSN

• Jen Bayly bayly@nhs.net (Principal Consultant – CVD Prevention)
• Jason Ralphs ralphs1@nhs.net (CVD Programme Manager)
• Ben Augustine augustine@nhs.net (CVD Programme Co-Ordinator)

Oxford AHSN

• Hannah Oatley oatley@oxfordahsn.org

Wessex AHSN

• Heather Bowles bowles@wessexahsn.net

To join the CVD Central mailing list to receive newsletters and invites for education events, webinars and courses email kssahsn.cvdprevention@nhs.net