paf

[pridewood]

today I had a letter ,inviting me to attend a specially designed SPAF care clinic,on af,anyone know of this,

[Hidden]

I've never heard of this. Whereabouts do you live? Sandra

[pridewood in reply to Hidden]

hi Sandra,i live in hereford

[AnticoagulateNow]

Yes, I was invited to one of these Stroke Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation (SPAF) events about a year ago in my local health centre. Well worth going along. Mine had about fifteen folk there, all with AF of course. It lasted roughly half a day. There was an overview and update briefing on the condition from one of the nurses and a chance for a general chat - but absolutely no pressure if you didn't want to speak. Later there is a one-to-one private discussion with a nurse exploring your own particular circumstances and an opportunity to see a cardiologist 'there and then' if you (or the nurse) thought it would be useful. The value of the event to the attendee probably depends on how much you already know about your condition but for most it is informative and, as it's free, what's not to like?

What shocked and surprised me was how few of the attendees were on anticoagulation. Less than a quarter and when I queried this in the 'general chat' section, it quickly became evident how many of those present did not really understand their condition in any detail. If this is representative across the AF population, then too many cardiologist are failing their patients big time. The nurses were very much pro-anticoagulation so hopefully these events will eventually lead to more people being properly protected. These events are funded by 'Big Pharma' - well the NHS can't afford to do it - so will no doubt attract adverse comment from the conspiracy theorists. They are of course entitled to their opinion - no matter how misguided it might seem to others.

[pridewood]

tnanks a lot anti.