The British Heart Foundation in Wales
With a new team in place since January 2006, Wales continues its drive to fundraise and communicate BHF messages in the region. Based at the Cardiff office, the new appointments are a Regional Events Organiser, an Events Assistant and a new post of Public Affairs Manager.
The new Public Affairs Manager is a member of the BHF's National Policy and Public Affairs team, and will devise and develop an effective government relations programme with the National Assembly for Wales. They will work with the Regional Marketing Communications team to support national and regional work in Wales.
Notable activity in Wales in 2005/06 included:
The BHF awarded a grant of over £100,000 to the All Wales Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group to help them support the National Audit of Cardiac Rehabilitation in Wales. The Audit programme will measure the effectiveness of rehabilitation services and the benefits to patients, to direct and inform future rehabilitation initiatives. Almost all centres have now completed the audit and are using it to benchmark their practice.
Go to 'Boost for heart rehab' page
The number of BHF Heart Nurses in Wales continues to grow. There are currently three BHF Paediatric Liaison Nurses based in Cardiff, with another to follow in 2006. In Camarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, there are three adopted Cardiac Liaison Nurses. In 2005/06 six awards for full-time BHF Heart Failure Nurses in Wales were made to Conwy and Denbighshire, Cardiff and Vale, and Bro Morgannwg NHS trusts. Four new specialist BHF Heart Nurses for patients with arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) conditions will be posted in Cardiff, Swansea and NE Wales NHS trusts in 2006.
Go to 'BHF Heart Nurses' page
In 2005 more than £1 million was awarded for BHF research in Wales, including a vital two-year project begun by Dr Judith Hall at the Department of Anaesthetics and Intensive Care Medicine at University of Wales College of Medicine, to improve how we predict excess bleeding risk in heart surgery patients.
We are proud to report that there are now 53 affiliated Heartstart UK schemes in Wales, and 84 in the Heartstart UK schools programme. This highly successful scheme is coordinated by the BHF and teaches members of the public what to do in a life-threatening emergency.
Go to 'Young life-savers' page