Barts and The London Heart Attack Centre | Our services | Heart failure clinic
Heart failure clinic
Heart failure is a medical term that means the heart muscle isn’t able to pump as efficiently as it should. Some patients suffer with conditions affecting the heart muscle directly, or as a result of a heart attack. The symptoms often include tiredness, breathlessness and simply not having the energy to do things.
Our heart failure clinics take place four times a week and are run by specialist nurses, pharmacists and consultants with an interest in heart muscle problems. The clinic aims to reduce the need for patients with heart failure to be admitted to hospital and help patients self manage their condition. This includes making sure patients have the right doses of medication and help with lifestyle advice like quitting smoking.
The results from the clinics, which take place four times a week, show that most participants at the clinic see improvements to their symptoms and a have a better quality of life. A recent study found that of 44 patients that attended the clinic who were regular smokers when they were first referred, half were encouraged to give up smoking. Seven patients drank more than the recommended weekly intake of alcohol when they first visited the clinic. This dropped to just one.
Almost every patient saw their blood pressure and heart rate improve over the course of their visits - a sign that they are taking the correct medication and are following advice to improve the way they live.
Working with doctors, our nurses and pharmacists ensure that patients receive the right medication at the right doses.
Most patients who come to the clinic see improvements to their symptoms and quality of life.
The clinic also runs several research projects which may be of interest to patients.
Our nursing team for the heart failure clinic won a Cardiac Nursing award in 2007.
