Familial Hypercholesterolemia Audit

The National Audit of the Management of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia is being undertaken by the Royal College of Physicians with funding from Heart UK, the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Network Co-ordinating Group Wales and the Royal College of Physicians. 

It aims to assess the implementation of the 2008 NICE Clinical Guideline Identification and Management of Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (CG71) in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

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FH Audit 2010

Latest

24 January 2011 - Download the National FH Audit 2010 report (PDF 1.74Mb)

The Key Findings from the organisational and clinical audit:

The clinical management in lipid clinics is of a good standard for individual patients who have been diagnosed with FH.

•    Organisational aspects of the care pathway for FH are still being developed, but current resources are inadequate to cope with the identification of the predicted FH relatives of affected cases UK wide. This includes access to trained staff (86% of sites had no lipid specialist nurses), IT provision and pedigree drawing.

•    There is a major lack of family “cascade” testing, whether carried out on the basis of lipid levels or, more effectively, by a DNA diagnosis.

•    While there is good access to DNA diagnosis and funding for DNA testing in the devolved provinces, access and funding in England is poor.

•    There is a shortfall in child-focused services throughout the country, with only 26% of sites offering paediatric FH services. Where such services were audited they are of a good standard.

•    While good management of FH patients is occurring in both small and large sites, there is some evidence that small sites adhere less fully to key aspects of the guideline. This is particularly with respect to annual review, collection of detailed pedigree data and initiation of cascade testing.

A full report is available below.

Pilot 2009

A pilot project was undertaken by the Royal College of Physicians to audit the organisation of services and clinical management of care for patients with FH, based on the NICE guidelines.

The pilot project surveyed 12 sites in England and two in Wales. The full report is available below.

Further information can also be obtained by contacting:

Kristina Pedersen - FH Audit Project Manager
Tel: 020 3075 1500
Email: Kristina.Pedersen@rcplondon.ac.uk