What we do

Care

We will help attain the highest possible standards of care and support for patients.

We aim to achieve this by:

  • understanding the day to day needs of people living with heart disease.

  • equipping patients and carers to maximise patient heart health and quality of life,

  • increasing resuscitation capacity, to help maximise heart attack survival,

  • responding to, and representing, the needs of patients and carers,

  • helping patients and carers to develop heart health services effectively,

  • investing in health care professionals to improve heart patients’ quality of life,

  • helping develop other organisations to build capacity in prevention and care,

  • promoting better training and accreditation for heart health care professionals,

  • training and supporting more specialist BHF Heart Nurses

Our achievements in 2008-09

So much of our work is about making a difference to people’s lives on a daily basis. One of the most important ways we do this is by training, supporting and empowering the BHF Heart Nurses who deliver care at the front line.

Nurse Excellence Rewards
In 2008, we launched our Nurse Excellence Rewards to honour today’s outstanding performers and inspire the next generation of cardiac nurses. Over 300 of our BHF Heart Nurses attended the first awards night in October, turning it into a real celebration.

Anne White - outstanding performance
The star of the show was Anne White, who scooped the Outstanding Performance award. Anne was recently appointed BHF Cardiac Genetic Nurse at Papworth Hospital, Cambridgeshire, the latest in a long line of career achievements that include helping to establish an innovative cardiac rehabilitation service and local patient support group.

Attracting a new generation of BHF Heart Nurses
Anne is one of over 400 BHF Heart Nurses nationwide, all providing expert cardiac care for patients in their homes and in hospital. By continuing to fund and support them, as well as attracting a new generation through our awards, we plan to raise standards well into the future.

Other highlights in brief

  • Launched in January 2009, our Beating Heart TV campaign aimed to let people know about the support available through our Heart HelpLine and BHF website.

    It led to 10,885 people calling the Heart HelpLine – more than a year’s worth of calls in two months.

  • September 2008 saw the results of the National Audit for Cardiac Rehabilitation, a coalition between the BHF and a number of other organisations.

    The results have received widespread media coverage, showing that the average cardiac rehabilitation patient receives just 79% of the recommended nursing time, 36% of the physiotherapy, and 16% of the professional dietetic support required by some guidelines.

  • We have funded ten nurses, six radiographers and six cardiac physiologists on a new course in Adult Cardiac Catheter Laboratory Practice, helping to fill a worrying skills shortage in this increasingly widespread clinical practice.

    25 new students will enrol in October 2009, with that number expected to double when the scheme is rolled out to another university next year.