The NHS Long Term Plan has highlighted cardiovascular disease (CVD) as the largest area where the NHS can save significant numbers of lives over the next ten years.

But how can we truly reduce the incidence of CVD and save lives?

Dr Tracey Vell is a practicing GP, Medical Director at Health Innovation Manchester, and Medical Executive lead for primary care for NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care. In this blog, Tracey provides her unique perspective on why Greater Manchester is utilising a population health implementation model, and how we are working collaboratively with healthcare professionals and partners to reach and manage populations at high risk of CVD.

“It is easy to look at the data and see how we could save lives: the hardest thing is then to understand what we need to put in place to achieve that.”

The programme of work taking place in Greater Manchester around cholesterol management is based on a new way of thinking. We are utilising a population health implementation model to reach the communities that really suffer from high CVD risk.

It is easy to look at the data and see how we could save lives: the hardest thing is then to understand what we need to put in place to achieve that. We talk a lot about delivering population health through prevention, screening, risk assessment, but we still have communities who face barriers in accessing healthcare.

So how do we shape healthcare within Greater Manchester to deliver to all citizens?

“It’s one thing to say you want to address health inequalities: the next is to enable it to happen.”

By looking at CVD as a community problem, we can do something different – something innovative – to reach the communities and populations that need it most.

It’s one thing to say you want to address health inequalities: the next is to enable it to happen. In a first-of-its-kind population health management approach, we are working together with our partners to deliver a new pathway for the treatment of CVD including broad and rapid access to novel treatments in primary and secondary care.

“By working within the community, we can empower patients to take their health into their own hands.”

Through the GM Care Record, we can also identify populations who are at increased risk of CVD. We have data scientists working collaboratively alongside GPs and frontline staff to identify at-risk populations, and by working within the community, we can empower patients to take their health into their own hands and encourage healthy lifestyle changes.

At the end of the day, implementing a new way of working is hard, but we’re doing it, we’re reaching more people in the fastest time with a model that might actually save lives. What could be better than that.

Read more about how Health Innovation Manchester is supporting the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease across Greater Manchester.