Our Don’t Wait to Anticoagulate initiative has been shortlisted for an Anticoagulation Achievement Award. With the ceremony in The Houses of Parliament on Wednesday 11 October 2017, these awards recognise outstanding practice in the delivery of anticoagulation services across the UK.
In collaboration with pharmaceutical company Bayer and Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), the West of England AHSN planned, developed and delivered Don’t Wait to Anticoagulate project (DWAC) to help prevent strokes amongst patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) by optimising medicines management in primary care.
Co-designed with a wide range of stakeholders, including NICE, patient representatives and clinical partners, DWAC offers a range of user-friendly resources for clinicians, pharmacists and patients to aid shared decision-making and to optimise anticoagulation for AF patients, supported by quality improvement (QI) and clinical skills training. This includes the website www.dontwaittoanticoagulate.com.
The project was rolled out to over 100 GP practices in the Westcountry during three 12-week phases. Modelling of the changes in prescribed treatments during this period indicates that DWAC has potentially prevented 27 strokes amongst people with AF, representing an estimated saving of over £629,000.
Additionally, feedback from users confirms that the DWAC approach has led to improved patient care, increased confidence in shared decision-making, and improved working practices in AF care pathways through a multidisciplinary approach. There has been a strong shift in focus from “Why anticoagulate?” to “Why not anticoagulate?”
DWAC is enjoying widespread interest and national recognition, with the initiative currently being adopted and spread across the North West of England, Yorkshire and Humberside, Buckinghamshire and East Berkshire with a further 85 GP practices involved and many more engaged to start, plus further spread across the West.
Posted on September 4, 2017
