North Mersey Stroke Service hosts first hybrid national stroke prevention conference

On Friday 30 January, the North Mersey Stroke Service, based at Aintree University Hospital, hosted its first hybrid national stroke prevention conference in Liverpool. The event brought together 160 professors, consultants, and health organisations, all dedicated to improving stroke care.

To coincide with Stroke Prevention Day 2026, the conference, which took place both in-person at Aintree and online, while also being shown live on LinkedIn, aimed to spread awareness about the importance of prevention and the latest advances in the field to improve outcomes for stroke patients.

NHS Cheshire and Merseyside was represented by both Julie Kelly, Associate Director of Population Health and Zoe McIntosh, Cardiovascular (CVD) Prevention Programme Manager who delivered an important session focused on regional public health collaboration.

They presented on the prevention, detection and management of CVD risk factors and the efforts across public health sectors and primary care, to find patients before they develop risk of a stroke. They spoke about case findings of blood pressure checks in optometrists, the Clinically Led Workforce and Activity Redesign (CLEAR) programme, which is supporting Primary Care Networks through adopting a model of care that will approach CVD Prevention more systematically and increasing the uptake of screening programmes like NHS Health Checks.

Their presentation highlighted how partners across Cheshire and Merseyside and the wider North West are working collectively to improve stroke prevention, reduce health inequalities, and ensure a joined‑up approach across the system.

For more details about the conference, visit the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group website.