
Protecting individuals from AF-related stroke through the initiation of anticoagulation therapy is a national priority.
Despite the availability of vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC), people are still experiencing preventable AF-related strokes due to failure to prescribe these protective medications.
The consequences of not treating patients with known AF at risk of stroke with protective anticoagulant therapy can be devastating. For example, in England in 2016/17 there were 15,785 strokes in people with known AF prior to hospital admission; of these 7,483 were not prescribed anticoagulant therapy at the time of their stroke. The outcome for many of these untreated AF patients was poor, with 26% dying and a further 45% left with moderate to severe disability. Based on QOF 2018/19, in England there are 142,930 people with AF at risk of stroke who are not prescribed anticoagulant therapy. Stroke


Based on QOF 2018/19, in England there are 142,930 people with AF at risk of stroke who are not prescribed anticoagulant therapy.

Stroke risk assessment using CHADS2VASc should be embedded in local guidance, alongside an assessment of bleeding risk with identification of modifiable risk factors. Anticoagulation therapy, in the form of warfarin or a DOAC must be initiated in a timely manner. This section of the toolkit brings together guidelines, tools and case studies to assist local areas in addressing unmet need in the Protect area of AF care.
Featured Resources
Virtual Clinics Webinar – FAQs
Virtual Clinics Webinar - FAQs read more
SDM Magic North – AF Decision Aids
Shared Decision Making Magic North is a website that includes numerous resources and external links to decision aids for Atrial Fibrillation. read more
Risk Calculator
This resource will allow you to produce a specific risk sheet for your patient based on their CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores. Once ... read more
NICE – Patient Decision Aid
Atrial fibrillation: medicines to help reduce your risk of a stroke – what are the options? This information is intended to help ... read more
GP data cleansing initiative for atrial fibrillation and hypertension
Data cleansing of coding atrial fibrillation and hypertension in GP practices. The NHS Long Term Plan (Jan 2019) describes an ambition ... read more
Specialist Pharmacy Service – Medicines Optimisation in AF
The first section of this document shows how to use nationally available data to build a picture of care for people who have atrial ... read more