Health: Atrial Fibrillation and Stroke Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateLord Mackenzie of Framwellgate
Main Page: Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate (Non-affiliated - Life peer)Department Debates - View all Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate's debates with the Department of Health and Social Care
(6 years, 8 months ago)
Lords ChamberI too am in that age range. I am afraid I cannot tell the noble Baroness what the global figures are, but I shall write to her to do so.
My Lords, a couple of years ago I attended a clinic in this House where there was a device, on which you placed your hand, which diagnosed whether you had atrial fibrillation. The idea was that these would be rolled out into doctors’ surgeries, where people could test themselves while in the waiting rooms. How is that progressing?
The noble Lord is quite right that this is a very easily diagnosable condition through checking pulses. The device that he described and other ones are doing that. They are in every GP surgery and form part of the health checks that the noble Baroness talked about. As I said, I do not have the figures for just how many of those are taking place, but we know that 300,000 people are undiagnosed with this condition. Many of them will be in regular contact with the health service, and this is about making sure that GPs use the opportunity to carry out those tests, which will inform the treatment that follows.