With too few specialist nurses in the NHS to carry the heart failure case load, BSH launches Heart Failure Competency Framework for Healthcare Professionals on NHS AHPs Day 2021

British Society for Heart Failure launches Heart Failure Competency Framework for Healthcare Professionals on

NHS Allied Health Professionals Day 2021

• BSH competency framework launched to support multidisciplinary healthcare professionals an providing care to people with heart failure.
• NHS recognises the value of Allied Health Professionals through NHS Allied Health Professionals Day 14 October 2021 #AHPsDay
• BSH ‘FREEDOM FROM FAILURE‘: Campaign for increased self-recognition of the symptoms of heart failure; fighting for breath, fatigue and fluid retention then seeking early medical advice will improve early detection, diagnosis. Subsequent referral to a heart failure specialist will ultimately improve outcomes for those with heart failure
• Heart failure is a growing societal issue exacerbated directly and indirectly by the CoViD-19 pandemic
  • Data from Public Health England (PHE) show that since 2 July 2021, heart failure was implicated in 1,552 excess deaths^[i]

Thursday 14^th October 2021. NHS Allied Health Professional Day 2021:

There are not enough nurses in the NHS.

There are not enough specialist nurses to manage the current heart failure case load.

Heart failure is one of the biggest societal issues in healthcare today with numbers burgeoning directly and indirectly due to the CoViD-19 pandemic.

Recognising the workforce/resourcing pressure on the NHS the British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) has today launched a competency framework to support those working across the many healthcare professions in which heart failure management is a feature.

At least 1 million people are affected by heart failure in the UK^[ii] with a further 200,000 newly diagnosed each year^[iii]. Heart failure rarely exists in isolation and patients typically have complex multi-factorial needs. More common than some cancers^[iv] and with comparable malignancy without treatment, heart failure should be diagnosed and treated with similar urgency. Early diagnosis and care provided by heart failure specialists and those conversant with the condition is crucial.

Paul Forsyth, Consultant Heart Failure Pharmacist, Glasgow and lead author of the heart failure competency framework said: “Collaborative care is a cornerstone of treatment strategies in all national and international heart failure guidelines. People with heart failure need holistic care provided by a tapestry of different health and social care professionals, both specialists and generalists and involving those working across all care settings. This British Society for Heart Failure Competency Framework sets out to equip all health professionals with the core competencies required to care for people with heart failure and is intended for use by Physiotherapists, Dieticians, Occupational Therapists, Cardiac Physiologists and collegiate disciplines. These generic competencies centre on heart failure knowledge and include heart failure-specific as well as general clinical skills”.The framework has been developed by a national multidisciplinary panel of senior experts in heart failure across a broad range of health care professions and across devolved nations.

Professor Simon Williams, Consultant Cardiologist, Heart Failure Specialist, Manchester, Chair of the BSH commented: “The prevalence and cost of care for those with heart failure will continue to increase because of the ageing of the population, because it’s a multifaceted syndrome and because of the effects of the CoViD-19 pandemic. In tandem, the options we have for heart failure management are growing and heart failure is becoming one of the success stories of modern-day medicine. Our challenges are increasingly apparent in health disparities requiring consideration of both health and social services in developing interventions. Strategies to improve the quality, access, efficiency, and equity of heart failure multidisciplinary management are needed to meet the needs of contemporary populations. Integrating primary care with cardiology services embedded in a population health management model is most likely to decrease the burden of heart failure for both the individual and society”.

Professor Williams added: “Since 2 July 2021, heart failure has been implicated in over 1,500 excess deaths^[v], hence it is vitally important for the BSH to talk about the ‘Freedom from Failure – the F Word’ symptom self-recognition campaign which encourages earlier detection of the condition and referral to specialist care. We are urging that everyone actively checks for common symptoms of heart failure such as fighting for breath, fatigue and fluid retention – in ourselves and those around us – and to seek early medical advice to improve early diagnosis and ultimately outcomes such as mortality”.