Tag Archives: National Service Framework

Introduction Cardiac rehabilitation aims to address all modifiable behavioural risk factors that are susceptible to intervention, including smoking, exercise, diet and weight.1,2 Since less than half of eligible patients attended the out-patient-based cardiac rehabilitation programme at St George’s Hospital, we wanted to establish whether our service was beneficial and popular with patients, and what features might persuade others to participate. This evidence would enable us to improve our service and increase attendance, thereby reducing the risk of further cardiac events, with consequent benefits to patients, their families and healthcar

Planning development The agreement drawn up by the Heart Team, within the Department of Health, and BCIS some years ago suggested that new centres should not be developed until existing provider units were at capacity. As more cath labs have been built and more cardiologists have been appointed it has been possible, particularly in the current National Health Service (NHS) climate, to make a case for local development of services regardless of whether current providers are able to cope with local demand or not. From a national and regional perspective it would be illogical to develop multiple small-volume centres while other existing centres,

Background Cardiovascular diseases are the most common cause of premature death in developed countries. The National Service Framework for Coronary Heart Disease (NSF CHD)1 sets out national standards for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of CHD including explicit recognition of the role of primary care teams. A further NSF chapter ‘Arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death’ was published in 2005,2 emphasising that patients with long-term conditions may be managed in primary care. It also highlighted better access to effective management of arrhythmias in all areas, including primary care. Cardiovascular diagnostic and monitoring equipm

Setting an example The primary care-based heart failure service in Gloucestershire is now four years old and has promising data from its 2006 audit. The audit comprises data from all patients (n=524) with left ventricular systolic dysfunction managed by the service throughout 2006. Results showed all-cause mortality in this high-risk group of only 8.2%, with half of these patients dying at home. In the group of patients who had died during 2006, almost one third had previously discussed and indicated the place they wished to be cared for during the final phase of their illness, with the vast majority opting for home. In over 70% of these case

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