Support and care services for people with heart
failure
People living with heart failure often need
special care and support. But compared to other illnesses - such as
cancer - these individuals are getting less
specialist care.
Palliative care helps to relieve pain and
symptoms meaning that people living with long term
conditions, and those nearing the end of their life, feel more
comfortable.
Although not everyone with heart
failure needs palliative care, many do need more general help
and support. Both these kinds of care help improve an
individual’s quality of life and allow them to spend more
time at home.
The course of heart failure is very hard to
predict – often a person with heart failure becomes very ill but
then their condition improves again. This can happen several times,
making it difficult to tell when they are reaching the end of their
life. It also means that patients may need several
different types of care.
Caring Together
It’s important that palliative and supportive care is
available for everyone that needs it, whatever
their condition. All health and social care professionals should
have training in this to help them provide the best possible
service.
We are working with Marie Curie Cancer Care and NHS Greater
Glasgow and Clyde, in developing a care service which meets the
needs of people with advanced heart failure and their carers. The
Caring Together programme could help
develop a care service for use across the UK.
We also fund specialist heart
failure nurses who provide care and advice to
heart failure patients in their own home.
Liverpool Care Pathway
To provide the best possible care for patients
who are at the end of life we support the use of the Liverpool Care
Pathway.
The Pathway is a guide to ensure the best possible care is
provided for people during the last hours and days of their life.
It provides doctors and healthcare professionals
with the best practice model for caring for dying patients,
wherever they are cared for.
It has been used since the late 1990s to spread best practice
from hospices into other healthcare settings, such as hospitals,
care homes and people’s own homes.
The Pathway has been recommended as a model of good
practice by the Department of Health, the General Medical
Council and NICE.
For more information please email us at policy@bhf.org.uk.