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Quality and Outcomes Framework: atrial fibrillation and hypertension (2014)



Atrial Fibrillation, a heart condition causing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate and Hypertension or high blood pressure are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease and stroke.

Key Messages

Atrial Fibrillation, a heart condition causing an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate (1) and Hypertension or high blood pressure are major risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as heart disease and stroke.

It is estimated there are around 11,000 stroke events, including 6,000 new strokes, per year in Wales (2).

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the UK and the single most common cause of severe disability (3). One quarter of stroke deaths occur under the age of 65. There is evidence that appropriate diagnosis and management can improve outcomes (4)

Explore Data Further

The following data files relating to the management of hypertension and atrial fibrillation and the prevalence of Atrial Fibrillation, Stroke and Hypertension from the clinical domains of the quality and outcomes framework (QOF), part of the General Medical Services (GMS) contract and the QOF chronic conditions registers for GP clusters in Wales have been published:

Download Data file showing prevalence data from the QOF chronic condition registers for atrial fibrillation; stroke/TIA; and hypertension for GP Clusters in Wales (.xlsx)

Download Interactive data file relating to the management of hypertension and atrial fibrillation (.xlsx)

This includes:

  • Indicator view providing a comparison for clusters within a health board for selected indicators
  • Cluster summary view presenting an overview of all selected atrial fibrillation and blood pressure indicators for a selected health board cluster.

Access The Data

The files should be used in conjunction with the GP Cluster Profiles (2013) which provide useful contextual information.

  1. NHS Choices. Atrial Fibrillation. [Online]. London: NHS; 2013
  2. Welsh Government. Together For Health – Stroke Delivery Plan: Our Vision. Cardiff: WG; 2012
  3. Public Health Wales. Stroke. [Online]. Cardiff: Public Health Wales; 2012

Get in touch 

We are always looking to improve on the products we produce to ensure that they are user-friendly. If you have any comments or feedback, then please get in touch with us by emailing:  publichealthwalesobservatory@wales.nhs.uk