Introduction & module overview
Introduction & module overview
Over 1 million people in the UK are living with heart failure and there are around 200,000 new diagnoses every year (roughly 14 for every community pharmacy). An estimated 385,000 people have heart failure that is currently undetected, undiagnosed and consequently untreated. Prevalence increases with age and with our ageing population these numbers are predicted to increase still further.
Approximately 80 per cent of heart failure is diagnosed in secondary care even though 40 per cent of people have symptoms that could trigger an earlier assessment in primary care in the months prior to an admission.
Heart failure has a poor prognosis but earlier diagnosis and treatment would help to reduce the burden to both patients and our healthcare systems. While there is no cure there are many interventions that will improve mortality and, more importantly to many patients, the quality of life associated with living with heart failure.
Heart failure rarely exists alone – 98 per cent of those diagnosed with heart failure live with at least one other long-term condition such as diabetes, kidney disease, hypertension, ischaemic heart disease, atrial fibrillation, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The latest data from the National Heart Failure Audit (2020-2021) on 61,784 hospital admissions reported in-hospital mortality of around 9 per cent and one-year mortality of 39 per cent.
Lower admissions during the Covid pandemic led to concern that patients were not receiving the care they needed or coming forward for diagnosis, leading to delays in treatment. Being alert to undetected heart failure is therefore particularly important.
The British Society for Heart Failure is aiming to reduce heart failure mortality in the first year after diagnosis by 25 per cent in the next 25 years. In the UK alone, this would mean five fewer deaths for every 100 patients newly diagnosed with heart failure every year, translating to over 10,000 lives saved per year. Community pharmacists have a part to play in achieving this.