Free heart screening for grassroots football

Young football players and referees can access free heart screeening through a pilot project in Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire Football Association (FA) has partnered with Lincoln Private Hospital to help identify potential underlying heart conditions in those involved in grassroots football in the county.

Lincolnshire FA said serious cardiac incidents in football were extremely rare and the scheme was developed to improve access to preventative screening which is not routinely available through the NHS.

One hundred appointments will be available over the next 12 months for players and referees aged 18-35 who are registered with Lincolnshire FA affiliated clubs and competitions.

Cardiologist Professor David O'Brien, who is overseeing the clinical side of the programme, said most cases of sudden cardiac death occurred in patients with no diagnosis of cardiac disease and were often associated with strenuous exercise.

According to the charity Cardiac Risk In the Young (CRY), sudden cardiac death kills more than 600 people aged 35 and under each year, although it said experts believe the number is higher, as many sudden death cases are wrongly recorded as asthma, epilepsy or even drowning.

O'Brien said: "If, by establishing a screening programme in Lincolnshire, we manage to prevent even one sudden cardiac death in a young person, then all of the hard work the team has put into setting this up will have been worth it."

Participants will have an ECG (electrocardiogram), a simple non-invasive test that checks the heart's electrical activity. A follow-up echocardiogram would be required if any abnormalities were identified.

Lincolnshire FA and its partners said they had introduced the programme as a one-year pilot scheme initially, so they could assess demand and evaluate the impact of the screening.

Chair Jonathan Van-Tam said: "At Lincolnshire FA we want to do as much as we reasonably can to make grassroots football as safe as possible for our players and referees."

Participants can book an appointment by calling the dedicated booking line on 01522 461035.

Listen to highlights fromLincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch thelatest episode of Look North.

Download the BBC News app from the App Storefor iPhone and iPad orGoogle Play for Android devices