Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Heart Failure is an important public health issue. The detection and prevention of heart failure is a priority and the National Clinical Programme for heart failure supports many approaches to improving quality of life for people living with the syndrome. The programme (HSE) is currently engaging with the European Society of Cardiology who have an excellent platform to enable registry development on not only heart failure but other cardiovascular conditions. Working under the guidance of Dr Peter Kearney the National Heart Programme are working to initiate the EuroHeart programme cardiovascular database project in Ireland.

There are clear, evidence-based guidelines and excellent Irish case studies of effective models of care in heart failure however it is recognised that further focus and development is required to prevent unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths and maximise people’s quality of life. While progress has been made there are proportions of the population that are not being reached.

To understand the challenges more, a National Review of our adult Specialist Cardiac Services which includes heart failure was commissioned. The Reviews recommendations will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally including requirements for data to support development. The Report is now finalised and is being prepared currently for my consideration.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Heart Failure is an important public health issue that affects approximately 90,000 of our population, it is a complex condition with increasing numbers. Across Europe, and in Ireland heart failure remains a significant demand on health services and in particular hospital-based care. While not all hospital admissions can be avoided there is growing evidence of how to improve hospital avoidance.

There has been progress across Ireland in this area of care and the detection and prevention of heart failure is a priority. The National Clinical Programme for heart failure is developed to improve quality of life for people living with the syndrome. To support this the programme (HSE), is currently in the process of linking in with the European Society of Cardiology who have an excellent platform to enable registry development on not only heart failure but other cardiovascular conditions. The National Heart Programme working under the guidance of Dr Peter Kearney is engaging with the EuroHeart programme to bring the cardiovascular data base project to Ireland and further improve our data and information for continued development.

Ireland’s wider community of clinical practice in heart failure has provided leading research and innovation that continues to inform this care around the world. The STOP-HF project for example is a dedicated heart failure prevention strategy. This first-of-type concept has been proven to be successful and has resulted in changes in international guidelines. Ireland is among the world leaders in developing strategies to prevent heart failure.

Ireland is promoting pioneering innovations like the HeartCare at Home, a primary care project, which is open to all people with heart failure in Ireland. To get heart failure specialist care to a wider cohort of patients ‘Virtual Consultation’ allows on-line, real-time discussion of heart failure case questions with a family doctor. This consultation results in very effective remote management, avoiding unnecessary referrals and travel for the patient and facilitates the sharing of specialist expertise.

There has been significant investment in Integrated Care Programmes for Chronic Disease which includes heart failure. This investment has enabled the development of structures of care which will significantly improve all aspects of heart failure care including speed of diagnosis, access to cardiac diagnostic and therapies.

There are clear, evidence-based guidelines and excellent case studies of effective models of care in heart failure however, recognising the importance of preventing unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths and maximising people’s quality of life is the priority. Progress has been to inform the next steps for this important work and to understand the challenges more, a National Review of our adult Specialist Cardiac Services which includes heart failure was commissioned. The Report is now finalised and is being prepared for my consideration. The Reviews recommendations will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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Heart Failure is an important public health issue. Heart Failure is a prevalent, complex condition with increasing numbers. Across Europe, and in Ireland heart failure is a significant cause of hospital admission some of which could be avoided, placing increasing demand on our health services, a reduction in quality of life and life expectancy.

There has been notable progress in both therapeutics and structures of heart failure care improving Quality of Life and Life Expectancy. The detection and prevention of heart failure is a priority and the National Clinical Programme for heart failure is working towards , improving quality of life for people living with the syndrome. The programme (HSE) is in the process of linking in with the European Society of Cardiology who have an excellent platform to enable registry development on not only heart failure but other cardiovascular conditions. In addition, working under the guidance of Dr. Peter Kearney the programme is also aiming to initiate the EuroHeart programme database project in Ireland.

Ireland’s wider community of clinical practice in heart failure has provided leading research and innovation that continues to inform national and international practice. The STOP-HF project for example is a dedicated heart failure prevention strategy and a first-of-type concept. Ireland continues to implement pioneering innovations like the HeartCare at Home, a primary care project, which is open to all people with heart failure. To get heart failure specialist care to a wider cohort of patients ‘Virtual Consultation’ allows on-line, real-time discussion of heart failure case questions with a family doctor. This consultation results in very effective remote management, supporting hospital avoidance, avoiding unnecessary referrals and travel for the patient and facilitates the sharing of specialist expertise.

There has been significant investment in Integrated Care Programmes for Chronic Disease which includes heart failure. This investment has enabled the development of structures of care which will significantly improve all aspects of heart failure care including speed of diagnosis, access to cardiac diagnostic and therapies.

There are clear, evidence-based guidelines and excellent case studies of effective models of care in heart failure. It is recognised that progress has been made in increasing access to care, prevent unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths and maximise people’s quality of life. However, there is further access and community care required to impact waiting lists and access to care further and to understand the challenges more, a National Review of our adult Specialist Cardiac Services which includes heart failure was commissioned. The Report is now finalised and is being prepared for my consideration. The Reviews recommendations will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally.

Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Heart Failure is an important public health issue. It is a prevalent, complex condition with increasing numbers. Across Europe, and in Ireland heart failure is a significant cause of hospital admission some of which could be avoided.

There has been notable progress in both therapeutics and structures of heart failure care improving Quality of Life and Life Expectancy. The detection and prevention of heart failure is a priority.

Ireland’s wider community of clinical practice in heart failure has provided leading research and innovation that continues to inform practice internationally. The STOP-HF project for example is a dedicated heart failure prevention strategy that is a first-of-type concept.

Ireland is also promoting pioneering innovations like the HeartCare at Home, a primary care project, which is open to all people with heart failure in Ireland. To get heart failure specialist care to a wider cohort of patients ‘Virtual Consultation’ allows on-line, real-time discussion of heart failure case questions with a family doctor. This consultation results in very effective remote management, avoiding unnecessary referrals and travel for the patient and facilitates the sharing of specialist expertise. This service was first developed along the East Coast of Ireland and Carlow and is now being rolled out nationally through the Health Service Executive Integrated Care Programme for chronic illness.

There has been significant investment in Integrated Care Programmes for Chronic Disease which includes heart failure. This investment has enabled the development of structures of care which will significantly improve all aspects of heart failure care including speed of diagnosis, access to cardiac diagnostic and therapies.

There are clear, evidence-based guidelines and excellent case studies (such as the one in University Hospital Waterford) of effective models of care in heart failure and it is recognised that there are a number of care approaches to prevent unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths and maximise people’s quality of life. While progress has been made some patients with heart failure are still waiting to access these programmes.

To understand the challenges more, a National Review of our adult Specialist Cardiac Services which includes heart failure was commissioned. The Report is now finalised and is being prepared for my consideration. The Reviews recommendations will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally.