National service framework's financial implications are huge

doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7262.705

BMJ 2000;321:705 ( 16 September )

Letters

National service framework's financial implications are huge

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR $---$ We are delighted that tools for assessment of risk of cardiovascular disease have been addressed in a whole issue ofthe BMJ.¹ It is unfortunate that so many calculators (Sheffieldmark 2; New Zealand mark 2) cannot agree on definitions and maynot in fact give the same results for each patient.² We havecompared 10 risk algorithms, and, while the Sheffield tables underestimaterisk in patients with diabetes at 3% per year, the revised (butnot the old) New Zealand guidelines match the performance of otherguidelines: British, European, University College London, as recommendedin the national service framework for coronary heart disease.³

The only European risk calculator based on the Munster heart study has not been mentioned in the national service framework.²It is applicable to cases of secondary prevention and factorsfor risks owing to family history and triglycerides, and, in addition,its original database . . . [Full text of this article]