Service helping save lives

Such patients can often find themselves in and out of hospital, but the heart failure service at The James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough – thought to be one of the first in the UK – is having a real impact.

Jane Crouchley, heart failure specialist nurse, launched a pilot programme in October which saw the hospital set up its own heart failure unit.

Heart failure is a condition that causes breathlessness and fluid build up due to weakness of the heart muscle.

The scheme involves a new heart failure pathway, which enables patients admitted with suspected heart failure to be identified quickly using a blood test.

Patients are treated by a specialist team with the best treatments available and are taught how to manage their condition themselves.

When they go home, patients receive support from community nurses and can also go to a walk-in clinic within 48 hours of discharge from hospital.

This extra support reduces the chances of them being readmitted to hospital as an emergency.

Mrs Crouchley said the unit is already seeing positive results and is proving a hit with patients.

“Patient feedback is positive,”

she said. “Because it is a specialist unit, they have more confidence in the advice we are giving them.”

Since the new system started, figures have shown that heart failure patients seen by Mrs Crouchley and the heart failure team have a one in 20 chance of being readmitted as an emergency – well below national figures which show about half of heart failure patients are readmitted within six months.

Previous research has also shown that death rates are significantly reduced for heart failure patients receiving this kind of specialist care.

Neil Swanson, audit lead for cardiothoracic services, said: “Since this system has been set up, patients need to stay in hospital half as long as they used to.

“It’s not a new treatment, but it’s a new service. It’s about making the most effective use of treatments we know work.”