British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland is continually working to raise awareness of heart health. We work with policy makers and decision makers at all levels.
The change in Northern Ireland’s organ donation laws came about after British Heart Foundation Northern Ireland supported the family of Dáithí Mac Gabhann and other campaigners, taking our campaign to Stormont and Westminster.
BHF NI is also working across the island to reduce air pollution and deliver improved health outcomes for all.
What we are doing in your area
Miles Frost funding in Belfast
Supporting the Inherited Cardiac Conditions Service
The Miles Frost Fund aims to raise £1.5 million to help make genetic testing available to all families affected by the deadly heart condition hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The Inherited Cardiac Conditions Service in the Belfast Trust was the first in the UK to benefit from the funding.
We supported a nursing post for two years to ensure that more people receive the screening and treatment they need to prevent sudden death. In total an additional 584 new patients have undergone screening at the inherited cardiac conditions nurse led clinics over the duration of the Miles Frost funding.
We are delighted that Belfast Trust continues to fund the nursing post to support more patients undergoing testing for an inherited heart condition.
New care pathway for patients with Familial Hypercholesterolaemia
We were delighted to be involved in the work to develop the first standardised Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) pathway for patients attending cardiac rehabilitation in Northern Ireland. Working alongside all five health trusts we have developed a structured assessment and referral method for all patients attending cardiac rehabilitation to local FH teams. The structured pathway is the first of its kind within the UK.
FH is an inherited condition that is passed down through families and is caused by one or more faulty genes that cause high cholesterol levels from birth. It is estimated one in 250 (7,200) people in Northern Ireland have FH and, if left untreated, people with the condition are at high risk of having a heart attack at a younger age.
Leading the charge for positive change
We want to see CPR made mandatory on the school curriculum here.
In Northern Ireland in a typical year over 1,400 people suffer an out-of-hospital cardiac (OHCA) arrest. Fewer than ten per cent of them survive to be discharged from hospital.
Early cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and a defibrillator shock are vital to a person’s chances of surviving a cardiac arrest. Survival rates are higher in places where more people are trained to perform CPR and are willing to intervene.
We currently provide training equipment to 65 per cent of eligible post primary schools in Northern Ireland via the HeartStart or Call Push Rescue Programme. We believe if CPR was made mandatory on the school curriculum here in Northern Ireland it would save local lives.
Watch our video on why knowing how to perform CPR is a vital life skill:
We want a soft opt-out organ donation system
BHF Northern Ireland supports a soft opt-out system of organ donation, where everyone is presumed an organ donor unless they state otherwise because we believe this will:
- Help to deliver an increase in available organs for donation;
- Better reflect the views of the majority of the population;
- Help to shift social norms towards donation and away from refusal.
To maximise the potential of a soft opt-out system, legislation must be accompanied by:
- a comprehensive communications strategy pre and post the introduction of a soft opt-out system;
- investment in health structures including workforce to maximise the potential of a soft opt-out system;
- organ donation becoming a key part of the everyday routine within hospital practice.
Watch the Duncan family’s story on why soft opt-out is so important:
