Heart failure specialist nurses

Heart failure specialist nurses (HFSNs) provide care and advice to heart failure patients in their own home, helping to keep them out of hospital and improving their quality of life.

They forge strong bonds with patients and their families, understanding their needs and concerns. They co-ordinate a shared care approach with other members of the clinical and social services.

We currently support over 400 heart failure specialist nurses.

There are around 700,000 people in the UK today with definite heart failure, with around 63,000 new cases each year.

Heart failure accounts for five percent of all emergency medical admissions and almost two percent of the NHS budget is spent on heart failure patients (NICE Chronic Heart Failure Guidelines, 2003). 

Based on the success of our 2002 pilot scheme, funding 16 heart failure posts in the community, the Big Lottery Fund (BIG) funded an additional 76 posts in England for three years in 2004.

The success of this project was clear:

• An average reduction in heart failure admissions of 43%
• An average estimated saving, per heart failure patient, of £1,826
• A total saving to the NHS of over £8,000,000 over the 12 month sample period.

Read more about the project in the evaluation reports.

Our nurses at work

Jonathan is a community HFSN based in the East Midlands.  He has been a BHF healthcare professional for eight years.

"Since I was at school I knew that I wanted to work with people and not be in an office. I became a cadet with St John’s Ambulance and it is from here I decided that I wanted to help people. This led me to undertake work experience at my local community hospital and it was then I became inspired to do nursing.

The whole family was helped to feel more secure as a result of Jonathan’s involvement and care

"I love the variety of the role and seeing such a diverse group of patients. The patients I see can be very ill and in need of support.

"Being able to provide this gives me so much reward and a sense that I have been able to make a difference to that person, their carer and their quality of life."

The support Jonathan provides is greatly valued by the patients he works with. As one family member felt moved to tell us. 

“Both mum and dad very much appreciated the support Jonathan gave to them through his regular visits, and they came to regard Jonathan as a family friend as well as valuable support.

"In fact, the whole family was helped to feel more secure as a result of Jonathan’s involvement and care.”