Welcome to our first update of 2026. This year, the Alliance will work on getting the recommendations from its Primary Care Call to Action report heard across the NHS and among key decision makers. We will also look into resourcing and funding of the condition in areas with a growing burden of heart failure. As always, there are opportunities to get involved. So please do reach out if you have any questions, or interest in supporting our campaigns.

Launch of the Primary Care Call to Action Report

In December 2025, we formally launched our Primary Care Call to Action report, which sets out practical, evidence-based recommendations derived from consultation with our network to improve the early detection and diagnosis of heart failure in primary care.

The report has so far received coverage in Pulse and The Pharmaceutical Journal. In particular, there has been a focus on our recommendation that NT-proBNP testing should be mandated before patients access specialist echocardiography services.

This recommendation responds directly to local workforce and capacity pressures highlighted by the British Society for Echocardiography, where referral to their services without an NT-proBNP test continues to be an issue.

Over the coming months, the Alliance will build on this interest to engage relevant stakeholders with our other key recommendations, particularly around integrating specialist care into the community, better resourcing heart failure services in the community, and improving the uptake of cardiac rehabilitation.

Strategy for 2026

The Alliance has agreed its strategy for 2026. Alongside follow up on our latest report, the Alliance will look into understanding how heart failure is currently funded and resourced within broader cardiovascular and long-term condition budgets in areas with a higher burden of heart failure.

The aim is to identify variation and gaps in investment, and encourage the adoption of models of good practice. We will publish a short report later this year with our findings alongside case studies of innovative models of care that have the potential to provide long term savings and better care.

NT-proBNP usage in primary care

This year the Alliance will continue to highlight the variation in NT-proBNP usage. In a recent letter to Pulse, Dr Jim Moore highlighted that more progress is urgently needed around timely usage of the test in proportion to the growing burden of the disease.

Despite NICE guidance, access to, and use of NT-proBNP before echocardiography, referral remains inconsistent. The Alliance will work with NHS England and system partners to promote standardised use of the test, support implementation of diagnostic pathways, and link this to workforce planning for echo and specialist heart failure services.

We are also currently pushing for a more up to date data set of NT-proBNP usage across the country, following conversations with the diagnostics team at NHS England last year.