Secondary prevention in coronary heart disease needs to be improved

Even in well organised general practices improvements are needed in the detection, recording, and intervention of major cardiovascular risk factors in patients with established coronary vascular disease. A quarter of patients still smoke and lipids are not as well managed as blood pressure. These results reported by Brady et al (p 1463) come from the Healthwise survey, which represented 1.7% of the population in England, Scotland and Wales and included 548 general practitioners.