The heart failure clinic cares for people whose heart is not pumping blood around their body as effectively as it should be.
- Heart failure is often due to weakness in the main pumping chamber of the heart, but it can also occur because of:
- Thickening or stiffening of the heart muscle
- Problems with the heart valves
- Abnormal heart rhythm disturbances.
If you have symptoms of heart failure, please make an appointment with your GP
How can I be referred into the service?
If your GP suspects you might have heart failure they will often do some blood tests to look for signs of weakness or strain on the heart. Following this, they will then refer you to the heart failure clinic.
What happens at the heart failure clinic?
We will triage and your referral and you will be sent an appointment for an ultrasound scan of the heart (echocardiogram) and heart tracing (ECG).
However, if we think you have heart problems, you will be reviewed in clinic on the same day.
What tests will I have at my appointment?
Heart failure is a condition which has many possible causes and it is likely that you will require a number of different tests which may include:
- CT scan
- MRI scan
- Coronary angiogram
- electrical tests
Heart failure is more common if you have a background history of other heart problems. These can include heart attack, angina, high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity.
What care will I receive at home?
Patients with heart failure often require treatment with a number of different medications. This will be supervised by specialist community teams with guidance from the hospital consultants.
The community and hospital teams work closely together to ensure that your treatment runs smoothly. These medications are usually continued long-term and you will need a medical review.
If your condition is stable, you will be cared for by your GP. However, you will continue to have access to hospital and community teams if needed.
Cardiac rehabilitation
If you have heart failure, you will benefit from supervised exercise regimes and may require healthy lifestyle changes. Therefore, we might refer you to the cardiac rehabilitation teams for support.
Additional treatment
You might need more advanced cardiology treatments such as:
- A pacemaker or implantable defibrillator
- Angioplasty
- Ablation procedures for rhythm disturbances
- Surgery for heart valve problems.
Your cardiologist will advise if they think any of these procedures are necessary or appropriate.
Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD)
You may need further support such as a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). However, this means your heart now needs much more help to pump the blood around your body.
The need for a LVAD is usually decided in hospital as part of the heart transplant process.
The LVAD will act as a temporary support until a new heart can be found, and this will stay in place until your heart transplant operation.
What happens If I become unwell?
If you become unwell with heart failure and need admission to hospital you will usually be managed by the heart failure specialist team.
