Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained adult cardiac arrhythmia with over one million people diagnosed with AF in the UK (Health and Social Care Information Centre, 2014; Information Services Division [ISD] Scotland, 2014; Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety, 2014; Stats Wales, 2014). Many more people are thought to have undiagnosed AF (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2014) and the true UK prevalence is currently estimated to be 2.4% (Public Health England [PHE], 2015). The number of people with AF could significantly rise due to the growing elderly population and the increasing prevalence of those living longer with associated long-term conditions. Clinicians working in primary care can expect to see a growing demand to provide high-quality care for people with or at risk of developing AF. This includes checking for it, treating people who are newly-diagnosed and providing onward monitoring of people with an established diagnosis of AF. This two-part series looks at how to improve the provision of AF management in primary care.
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