Hospital admissions for heart failure in NI at five-year high

Q Newsdesk

The number of people being treated in hospital for heart failure in Northern Ireland is at its highest level for five years.

According to the British Heart Foundation admissions have jumped by ten per cent.

A growing population and greater heart attack survival rates are thought to be contributing factors.

Head of BHF NI Fearghal McKinney said discusses the increase:

He added, “Heart failure poses a growing and increasingly complex challenge, not only for people living with the condition, but for those who care for them too. It’s concerning to see yet another increase in hospital admissions – an indication that how we diagnose, treat and care for these patients needs urgent attention. 

“There is no cure for heart failure, but with access to the right services and support, people can go on to have a good quality of life for many years. We need to find new and improved ways of delivering this care, including in communities rather than hospitals. Doing so will improve thousands of lives and relieve the unsustainable pressure that heart failure is putting on our health service.”

To address the growing burden of heart failure, the BHF has launched the new £1million Hope for Hearts Fund to find innovative ways of caring for people with heart failure that can be trialled immediately. Innovations could include more effective use of technology and data, new service models or new ways of engaging people in their own care.

The charity is also continuing to invest in research into regenerative medicine, which could lead to new treatments within a decade.

In Northern Ireland the BHF has set up a taskforce to develop a Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) strategy. An aspect of this work will focus on improving diagnosis and treatment of heart failure