The Primary Care Cardiovascular Society

Aims and Activities

Established in 1997, the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society, a registered company and charity, aims to improve the care and outcome of patients with cardiovascular disease in the primary care setting and to provide a general practice perspective on cardiovascular disease management to policy makers and expert bodies. The Society exists to foster interest and expertise, to facilitate communication and exchange knowledge between clinical practitioners in the primary care sector, and to promote evidence-based approaches and best practice in the specialty of community cardiovascular disease. Within the PCCS there are two established special interest groups the B ritish Primary Care Anticoagulation Group and the GPSI Forum in Cardiology. These are shortly to be joined by a third group the Cardiovascular Nurse Leaders,in recognition of the increasingly important role of specialist nurses in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease.

The PCCS is well-respected organisation within the cardiovascular community. It is an affiliated group of the British Cardiovascular Society and a member of the National Heart Forum, an alliance of over 40 national organisations working to prevent cardiovascular disease in the UK . The Society is a NICE Stakeholder and takes an active role in the assessment of NICE Technology Appraisals and Guidelines relevant to the management of community cardiovascular disease. Initiatives within PCTs, which are aimed at facilitating an improvement in the care and outcome of patients with cardiovascular disease and achieving the targets set out in the National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease and The Quality and Outcomes Framework of the GMS Contract continue to be driven and sustained by PCCS members.

The PCCS was represented on the working group which has recently revised the Joint British Societies Guidelines for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention in Clinical Practice (JBS2). The PCCS was delighted to be involved with this group as it acknowledged the important role of primary care in the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. Following on from this, the PCCS is now leading the dissemination and implementation of JBS2 throughout the UK . To accompany the introduction of the JBS2 guidelines the PCCS has launched the first module of its multimedia distance-learning education programme which complements the revised guidelines.

Through its meetings programme, the PCCS acts as a forum for debate and discussion on topical issues and new developments in cardiovascular medicine. Each autumn, the PCCS holds an annual scientific meeting and AGM. The Society contributes to the programme of the British Cardiovascular Society annual meeting and holds joint meetings on selected topics with other charitable associations working in the cardiovascular disease arena. Additionally the special interest groups of the PCCS also run specialist meetings throughout the year. The proceedings from each meeting are published in the British Journal of Cardiology, the official journal of the Society and those proceedings of particular relevance to specialist nurses are also published in its sister journal The British Journal of Primary Care Nursing. To facilitate communication between the membership, the PCCS produces a newsletter, Vasco Veritas, and it also has its own newly revamped web site www.pccs.org.uk.

The PCCS is run by clinical practitioners in the primary care sector. Although supported by unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies, it is an independent society run on democratic principles, with the officers being elected by the membership and standing for re-election.

The direction of the PCCS is governed by the Board. Dr Terry McCormack is the current Chairman, Dr Ahmet Fuat, Deputy Chairman, Dr Stewart Findlay is Honorary Treasurer and Dr Kathryn Griffith is Honorary Secretary. Professor Richard Hobbs, Dr Mark Davis, Ms Jan Procter-King and Professor David Fitzmaurice complete the composition of the main board. The PCCS itself is run through the offices of Berrymede Associates under the direction of Executive Director Dr Fran Sivers, a founder member of the Society, ably supported by Mrs Gill Brown who is responsible for the day to day running of the Society and Ms Diane Newman.

Any clinical practitioner with an interest in community cardiovascular medicine can apply for membership, which now totals around 1600. The annual membership fee is £50 for GPs and £30 for nurses.

For further information on the PCCS and its activities please contact us.