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Heart failure specialist nurse service
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About the service
Heart failure simply means that the heart is not pumping as well as it should to meet the body’s needs, due to a weakened heart muscle. It does not mean that the heart has stopped or that you have had a heart attack.
On referral to the community heart failure service you will be contacted and invited to a clinic appointment or the heart failure nurse will arrange a home visit if you are housebound. The clinics take place at various locations throughout Barnsley to ensure they are locally accessible. We can also offer you the opportunity to be offered a telephone assessment of via video link if you prefer. The heart failure nurse will begin to assess your heart health needs, your social needs and talk a little more about what the service can offer and invite you to attend supporting services such as cardiac rehabilitation and support groups.
The heart failure nurse will help you gain information and understanding about your condition by offering education and advice, helping you to understand the positive impact you can have on your heart failure. The heart failure nurse will formulate a care plan with you and teach you how to manage your heart failure. The care plan will incorporate your heart health needs and management of your heart failure medication. Your care plan will be reviewed at each meeting with the heart failure nurse, where they will review your heart failure medication and dosages in partnership with your GP and cardiologist.
Why would someone choose the service?
- The heart failure specialist nurses will help you work at your own pace and always respect your wishes.
- Over 90% of heart failure patients said we had fully met their expectations.
- The heart failure specialist nurse works closely with cardiologists and general practitioners to provide best practice for our patients.
Staff you may meet
- Nurses who choose to specialise in the mental health branch of nursing work with GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists, and others, to help care for patients. Increasingly, care is given in the community, with mental health nurses visiting patients and their families at home, in residential centres, in prisons or in specialist clinics or units.
- The NHS employs a wide range of clinical staff, it wouldn’t be possible to list them all on this website! All our clinical staff are skilled, dedicated professionals who adhere to high standards of training and work-place practice.
- We have a range of health workers who all have different specialities. This could be in a certain condition, a therapy or the advice they can give you. Our specialists our highly skilled and trained professionals, ready to offer you help and advice whenever you need it.
Why a professional should choose the service
- We consistently achieve best practice indicators as set out in the Heart Failure NICE guidelines
- The heart failure specialist nurse service constantly delivers against commissioning targets, providing a holistic and person-centred approach.
- The team has established networks and relationships with other healthcare providers including Barnsley Hospice and Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust to support a consistent patient experience.
Support offered
- Heart failure education
- Self-care
- Heart failure support groups
- Onward referral: cardiac rehabilitation, allied health professionals if required
Outcomes
- Support recovery
- Ability to self-care
- Discharged back into the community as soon as possible
- Improved engagement with community services
- Clarification of diagnosis
- Improved heart failure health
- Improved functional capacity
- Relapse prevention
- Self-management skills
Referrals accepted from:
A & E, AHPs, Consultants, GP staff, GPs, Health visitors, Hospital staff, Other NHS services, Other Trust services, Patients(self-referral)
Referral criteria:
- 18 years +
- Living in Barnsley area with Barnsley GP
- Positive echocardiogram for left ventricle systolic dysfunction