Specialist nurses
Since 1996, we've invested over £40million in
funding and developing
healthcare professionals.
Much of our investment has been in specialist
nurses, who support people living with heart disease and co-ordinate health
and social care services.
We know that our nurses are valued by the people they
see. An
evaluation of our paediatric cardiac liaison nurses showed the
support they provide to families helps parents deal with their
child's illness and manage the impact on their everyday life.
We also know that our nurses offer value for
money. Between April 2009 and March 2011, BHF nurses reported that
they were responsible for avoiding 1,955 unplanned hospital
admissions. This has saved the NHS around
£34.5million.
What we want
- All health trusts should ensure
there are enough specialist cardiac nurses so every heart patient
can get access to one when they need to.
- Specialist nurses should be given the
resources and capacity to train other healthcare professionals who
may also be seeing heart patients in the community.
For more information read our policy
statement or email policy@bhf.org.uk