London heart-failure service brings treatment reviews into patients’ homes

Getting heart-failure medicines adjusted can mean repeated hospital journeys. A London service is bringing much of that follow-up home, with pharmacists checking patients’ readings and changing doses with clinical support.

In its latest report, Barts Health says more than 90% of patients received all four recommended medicine groups within eight weeks. More than half of those surveyed said the approach saved over two hours of travel.

Patients record their blood pressure and heart rate through a secure online platform. Pharmacists review the information, doctors handle concerns, and blood tests and prescriptions can be arranged locally.

The NHS explains that medicines can ease symptoms and slow deterioration, although heart failure has no cure. Treatment depends on each person’s condition.

These are results reported by an established service, without a controlled comparison or survey sample size in the update.

For patient Michael Perkins, the support also helped mentally after his diagnosis. Faster contact with the team meant reassurance could arrive without another hospital trip.

Sources

• Barts Health — Heart failure patients receive faster treatment at home
• NHS — Heart failure and treatment