Making cardiovascular care a local priority

We want to understand the challenges and find opportunities to support England’s health system. This will help everyone to improve care for patients with cardiovascular disease. 

How BHF helps to prioritise cardiovascular disease in England

At BHF, we have Health Care Leads that work to support and champion the importance of local cardiovascular leadership across England’s health system.

Our Health Care Leads:

• Translate heart health insight and data into actionable information that can be used by England’s health system. This helps improve service delivery and care for people with cardiovascular disease.
• Listen to people's lived experiences', health system leaders, clinical leaders and cardiovascular disease champions at all levels of the system. 
• Find and share opportunities to include clear and trusted health information and support, so patients can access it when they need most.
• Give local cardiovascular champions the tools to engage with wider health system leaders. This helps health system leaders understand the importance of prioritising cardiovascular disease for their local populations.

Tools to support your work

Prioritising cardiovascular health in England

This animation highlights the urgent need for action on cardiovascular prevention.

Health leaders and decision-makers can use this animation to understand:

• how to address current challenges in your cardiovascular care
• what key focus areas you could look at
• the importance and impact of prioritising cardiovascular care.

When cardiovascular health is prioritised healthcare costs are reduced, and overall health outcomes are improved.

How you can improve cardiovascular health in your communities

Here are some of the ways to improve cardiovascular health in the communities you support:

1. Invest in cardiovascular leadership at all levels of the system and develop strong partnerships to deliver a system-wide approach to reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease.
2. Focus on early detection and management of high blood pressure and cholesterol to help prevent thousands of heart attacks and strokes. In turn, saving millions of pounds for our healthcare system.
3. Use tools like data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce variations in the quality of care for people with cardiovascular disease.
4. Work together in multi-disciplinary team to create a coordinated approach to address both medical and lifestyle needs for people with cardiovascular disease.
5. Build close partnerships with local leaders to help address health inequalities in the community and optimise care pathways.
6. Strengthen community support and engagement with people who have cardiovascular disease to empower people to shape their care.

By prioritising cardiovascular disease in healthcare plans, we can save lives, prevent long-term disability and reduce pressure on our health service.

With a focus on effective partnerships, advanced technology, and innovative care pathways we can give everyone the chance to live healthier, longer lives.