Welcome to the Alliance’s first update of the year, bringing you news from the end of 2023 and introducing our strategy for 2024. Take a look at our newsletter to see the work we are doing to deliver quality outcomes for people with heart failure. We welcome collaboration and look forward to working with you in 2024.

Meeting with NICE

At the end of November, the Alliance met with Victoria Carter from the NICE implementation team. Members raised questions around improving adherence to NICE guidelines around NT-proBNP testing, feeding reappraisals on technology into new ICS structures, and issuing a consensus statement on improving adherence to guidelines along the entire pathway.

NICE has subsequently expressed interest in working more closely with the Alliance as part of a more flexible process of feeding system response into existing guidelines.

British Society for Heart Failure’s 25in25 initiative 

The Alliance has become a collaborator in the British Society for Heart Failure’s 25in25 initiative that aims to reduce deaths from heart failure by 25% through a community-led approach to early detection.

Following our Call to Action report, the Alliance has generated a number of educational assets and contacts we believe will help improve multidisciplinary working and help achieve the initiative’s goal of reducing regional variation in the provision of life-saving interventions.

Responses to Parliamentary Questions

A parliamentary question tabled by Steve McCabe revealed the government has not made any formal assessment on the impact of involving pharmacists in easing the burden of heart failure. We will continue to use this response in engagement with NHS England and other parliamentary allies as part of our community pharmacist campaign.

A second question tabled by Henry Smith MP asked whether the Government had considered the British Society for Echocardiography’s workforce report recommendations. The answer reflects a need to consider the problem of retainment in the echocardiography workforce.

Feature in Pharmacy Magazine

As part of our ongoing community pharmacist campaign, we were delighted to secure a feature in the UK’s leading pharmacy publication, Pharmacy Magazine, featuring the story of Jaya Authunuri who became a heart failure specialist after his close friend was diagnosed with heart failure.

The article calls for a greater emphasis on heart failure specialism in community pharmacies while offering practical tips to approach this. Please share in your networks and channels: Helping Ease the Burden of Heart Failure.

Strategy for 2024 and new chairs

We are delighted to announce two new co-chairs: Preeti Minhas, Director of Clinical Development at Education for Health, and Richard Corder, President of Cardiovascular Care Partnership.

Richard has extensive experience using his experience as a heart failure patient to improve services, while Preeti provides invaluable clinical and health education insights. We’d like to thank our previous chairs, Joel Rose and Louis Clayton, for their contributions. Both will continue to support our campaigns in 2024.

Next year we will be focusing on the following strategy:

  • Highlight the variation in uptake of NT-proBNP tests in Community Diagnostic Centres by gathering data through Freedom of Information requests and engaging with national stakeholders
  • Showcase the new revenue opportunities available to community pharmacies by engaging with national stakeholders and member organisations
  • Continue to support key stakeholders with the drive to encourage adoption of NICE guidelines and recognised pathways
  • Develop grassroots support through ongoing communication and engagement with heart failure professionals across the breadth of provider service

Thank you for your continued support for the Alliance for Heart Failure in improving care for people with condition. If you would like to keep up to date with our work, please follow us on LinkedIn.