Premier League football clubs across England could soon offer fans a one-stop clinic, designed to scan, diagnose and treat some early signs of cardiovascular disease after a successful screening pilot.
Almost one in three football supporters screened at Everton football club’s pop-up clinic this autumn were diagnosed with hypertension, the leading preventable risk factor for heart failure, heart attack and stroke.
Almost one in five of those diagnosed were discovered to require emergency hospitalisation, which was averted by the immediate prescription of life-saving drugs.
“We were able to test, diagnose and provide vital medication within 60 minutes – a process that can take up to six months in the NHS,” said Dr Rajiv Sankaranarayanan, consultant cardiologist and clinical lead for the Beat Breathlessness Hub, run with the Everton in the Community charity.
Fans received a blood test, an AI echo heart scan and a specialist review. If needed, they were given life-changing medication and advice on how to improve their quality of life to reduce the risk of future hospitalisation.
The Beat-HF national screening programme also diagnosed fans with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. Where needed, these fans were also given life-saving medication.
Everton fan Eddie Coan, 83, got tested only because he saw other people getting it done. “I had no symptoms and had no indication that I had an issue, but I went over and asked if I could be tested too.
“Within minutes, the nurse said she wasn’t very happy with my readings and made an appointment for me to go and see the GP,” he said.
Coan was found to have a missing heartbeat and was fitted with a pacemaker. “I had no symptoms whatsoever – so who knows what would have happened had the hub not been there that day, offering tests,” he said.
More than 1 million people in the UK have heart failure, with about 200,000 new diagnoses every year. Although early treatment can reduce mortality and morbidity, about 80% of diagnoses in England are made during emergency hospitalisation, a number that has increased by 50% in the last decade.
“The high rate of hospitalisation is a key reason why heart failure costs the NHS more than £2bn a year,” said Sankaranarayanan. “Between 60% to 70% of that £2bn is related to the expense of hospitalisation.
“If we can get people tested early and treated quickly, the need for hospitalisation – and especially emergency hospitalisation – is vastly reduced,” he added.
Run by the heart failure charity Pumping Marvellous – in collaboration with local NHS healthcare systems, hospitals, community trusts, integrated care board, councils, volunteer organisations and football clubs – the programme has already screened about 5,600 people at 10 sites across the country.
“The objective is to harness the brand of football for targeted early detection of those at serious risk of heart failure and the prompt initiation of treatment,” said Nick Hartshorne-Evans, the CEO and founder of the Pumping Marvellous Foundation.
“Our teams include a consultant cardiologist, specialist nurses, psychologists, smoking cessation service, volunteers and city council representatives,” he added.
The lessons learned from the pilot project, which has been shortlisted for a Health Service Journal prize, are now in demand across the country.
“We are in discussions with most of the other premier football clubs, who are wanting to set up community diagnostic hubs,” said Hartshorne-Evans. “We’ve had non-premier league football clubs, rugby clubs and leisure facilities getting in touch too.”
The full results, presented at the global cardiovascular conference on clinical trials (CVCT) in Washington last week, will soon be published in a prominent international cardiology journal.
Jon Jones, the director of adult services at Everton in the Community, said the charity was investigating ways to make the weekly clinic a permanent fixture.
“Men traditionally don’t get their health checked until it’s too late,” he said. “As a football club, we have a good idea which season ticket-holders might be at risk based on their age and postcode. That means we can reach out to them in a way that breaks down barriers because it blends community and clinical.”
