General Practitioners (GPs) and primary care clinicians shoulder the main responsibility for the management of patients with coronary heart disease and angina. Cardiovascular prevention underpins the management of patients with angina and all other forms of vascular disease. GPs and local cardiologists may have local guidelines for the management of angina and cardiovascular risk. Provision of effective screening programmes, patient education and close collaboration between primary and secondary care are essential. Primary care clinicians should be aware of advances in treatment for angina in order to be able to offer and explain to patients the most appropriate treatment as their condition changes. Angina is a clinical diagnosis made solely from the history and the probability of coronary artery disease based on the patient's age and risk factor profile. Angina occurs when there is an imbalance between oxygen demand by the heart, and supply of blood and oxygen through the coronary arteries.