Project Name: Further Development of Integrated Heart Failure (“HF”) Service

Project Summary:

The CWP aims to enhance the existing Community Heart Failure Service provided by the CW Partner in Ealing Borough, which is an area covered by the CW Partner’s care, by recruiting an additional Heart Failure Specialist Nurse to implement virtual wards for heart failure patients. Heart failure virtual wards provide an excellent opportunity to monitor patients in the community with specialist support using digital technology to support patients remotely, for those that would benefit from specialist intervention.

Virtual Wards, also known as “hospital at home”, allows patients to be remotely monitored at home safely rather than them remaining in hospital as an inpatient. The virtual ward will also aid access to those who find it more difficult to access healthcare   and support services and help to reduce health inequalities and equity.

Planned Milestones:

  • CWP kick-off meeting.
  • Baseline data collated to measure project outcomes against. 
  • Recruit and on-board Heart Failure Specialist Nurse
  • Develop and implement virtual wards, including necessary technology infrastructure and protocols.
  • Project progress check in meetings, including latest clinical activity data.
  • Analysis of CWP data, submission of final CWP report, submission of outcomes summary.
  • CWP wrap up meeting.

Expected Benefits:

For the Patient:

  • Enhanced access to specialised care and support from a dedicated Heart Failure Specialist Nurse (HFSN) and multi-disciplinary team (MDT).
  • Improved self-management skills, leading to a more efficient control of heart failure symptoms and reduced hospital admissions.
  • Increased convenience and reduced travel for patients through the implementation of virtual wards.
  • Early intervention and reduction in hospital admissions. 
  • Improved access to diagnosis and optimised treatment. 
  • Constant care and access to care.
  • Enhanced experience for patients and their carers.

For the CW Partner:

  • Decreased burden on hospital resources by reducing heart failure-related admissions and emergency department visits.
  • Improved patient outcomes, resulting in potential cost savings.
  • Better quality of life and access to the heart failure service.
  • Increase proportion of patients identified with HF being managed in accordance with NICE guideline standards.
  • Enabling, through reviewing intervention, ongoing redesign of the service and workforce provision.

For Novartis: 

  • Further opportunities for the appropriate use of cardiology licensed medicines in line with NICE guidelines, including Novartis’s medicine. 
  • Enhanced reputation.
  • Ethical, professional, and transparent relationship and trust between Novartis and the NHS.
  • Strengthened reputation as a provider of high-quality heart failure care.

Start Date & Duration: September 2023 for 20 months

UK2309088391