Improving Anticoagulation Therapy Services 2016

The conference will open focusing on the patient and on self monitoring and empowering patients following recommendation from NICE on self monitoring which stated that "The evidence shows that greater use of self-monitoring offers clinical and patient benefit and, over time, is likely to result in reductions in heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots…People on long-term anticoagulation need to monitor their blood regularly to make sure they are taking the right dose of their drug. Because self-monitoring provides almost instant results, self-monitoring can reduce anxiety, provide a sense of control for the patient and remove the need to frequently attend clinics or hospitals. The Committee also heard that self-monitoring allows people to visit, or act as a carer for, other family members, without having to worry about attending testing appointments".