A Largs GP is urging people to sign a petition calling on the Scottish Government to help warfarin patients self manage their condition, before the deadline closes next Monday.

The petition, lodged with the Public Petitions Committee of the Scottish Parliament, is calling for a national service delivery model to allow more patients to ‘self-test’ their blood if they request to do so, in order that they can better manage their own health, reducing the risk of stroke and saving the NHS money.

Rachel Fraser GP, a partner at Largs Medical Group, has helped up to a dozen patients to self test or self manage over the last eight years and supports the petition’s aims.

She said: “When I arrived at Largs there was one patient who was already self managing their anti-coagulation and was confident in doing so. The patient had to travel a lot for work so it was more convenient for them to take control. The individual had started to self monitor under their own initiative and was supported by the practice. Through learning about that patient we had the idea that more people could be self monitoring their anticoagulation.

Dr. Fraser, who runs an anticoagulation clinic at Largs, continued: “Awareness of self testing across different practices really varies. It’s an enhanced service, which means a practice does not have to provide it. We were lucky in Largs because we had an existing anti-coagulation monitoring service, so we had a foundation to build on.” Recent studies have shown that self testing could have huge benefits for both patients and health services, reducing the risk of strokes and leading to lower mortality rates.

The petition can be viewed and signed online at: https://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/warfarinselftesting