Alliance for Heart Failure update June 2024 

Welcome to the Alliance for Heart Failure’s latest update of 2024. Please read the following information as there are important opportunities to get involved and feed in your expertise to the group’s strategy. 

Company Chemists’ Association 

Alliance members met with the CCA recently to discuss integrating heart failure checks and NT-proBNP testing among their members’ outlets, including Boots, Superdrug and Tesco. The discussion explored the potential for an Integrated Care Board to commission a service that builds on existing national case finding services in pharmacies. This would involve adding additional questions into a screening that would prompt them to take a point of access NT-proBNP test.

There are plans to meet the CCA’s Pharmacy Evolution Group in the coming weeks. This will be an opportunity to approach service and operational leads with the suggestion of expanding this service – backed up by localised data on heart failure. 

Community Pharmacy England 

At the end of May the Alliance met with CPE. Alliance members stressed that there are some pharmacies which have excellent provision of heart failure support, including those that have utilised the New Medicines Services and worked as part of a heart failure multidisciplinary team. At this stage, the CPE remains uncertain on the extent to which it can be involved in diagnosis and titration of heart failure beyond education and awareness.

National Clinical Directors at NHS England

The Alliance recently met Professor Simon Ray, National Clinical Director for Heart Disease, Helen Williams, National Clinical Director for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, and Anna Quinn, CVD Prevention Senior Programme Manager. Due to the election period they were unable to discuss or speculate on future policy or strategy, but Helen Williams reported that they are starting to incorporate heart failure indicators into CVD testing. These will come into play in the next few months.

Member questions focused on means of leveraging ICBs to respond to heart failure in relation to blood pressure and rolling out successful localised heart failure optimisations based on QOF incentives. 

Response to NICOR audit 

The Alliance has published its response to the NICOR audit, pulling out key data from 2022/23 relevant to our strategy and focus. In particular we have highlighted poor uptake of cardiac rehabilitation and the flatlining of detected cases. The audit contains other powerful data that the Alliance will work into engagement with MPs and other policymakers over the next parliament. 

Pharmacy engagement

The Alliance continues to share educational information about the importance of heart failure and the role that pharmacists can play in supporting people with the condition. Our three articles have been shared with stakeholders and by the Local Pharmacy Committee in North East London, with more to follow.

On the evening of September 11th, Alliance co-chair Preeti Minhas will be speaking at a dinner – sponsored by Medtronic – designed for pharmacists with an interest in heart failure. The agenda includes information on patients’ pathways and optimisation and the use of devices and multidisciplinary team working, and is an opportunity to network and collaborate. If you are interested in attending, please email holly.christie@medtronic.com.

Preeti is also addressing The Pharmacy Show at the NEC in Birmingham in October, highlighting the role that community pharmacies can play in diagnosing and treating heart failure patients.

Heart Failure Awareness Days 2024

For this year’s Heart Failure Awareness Week, the Alliance focused on pharmacists, undetected cases, and the importance of NT-proBNP testing. We also continue to support the British Society for Heart Failure’s 25in25 awareness campaign, including its powerful new film. As a result, both our LinkedIn and X following continue to grow and reach new audiences. If you haven’t already followed us please do so! 

July 2024