Heart failure reduction project comes to Jersey hospital

Dr Aaron Henry: We want to do is increase awareness amongst health care professionals and patients

Jersey General Hospital has been selected as one of seven sites across the British Isles to take part in a pilot project aimed at reducing heart failure deaths.

The scheme to cut failures by 25% in 25 years has been set up by the British Society of Heart Failure.

Eighty per cent of people are diagnosed with heart failure in hospital after acute illness, it said.

A key aim of the project is to detect heart failure earlier.

Heart failure is when the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly.

This usually happens because the heart has become too weak. Raising awareness of symptoms is another goal of the 25in25 scheme.

'Extraordinary advances'

Lynn Mackay Thomas from the British Society of Heart Failure said: "If we can reach people before they present at that point we can make a huge difference.

"There have been extraordinary advances in heart failure management over the last 20 years."

She added: "Jersey represents quite a unique environment, a perfect microcosm, there is great work being done in Jersey and there is great communication across the island.

"And it could be a template for global rollout."

Dr Pierre Le Page: "Diagnosis for heart failure is a good thing because we know the symptoms and can make you feel better"

Dr Aaron Henry, a cardiology fellow at Jersey General hospital, said: "Often we see people who think they have a bad chest infection for instance, and that's what's causing the breathlessness but actually it's heart failure.

"So we want to do is increase awareness amongst health care professionals and patients.

"So we use the acronym BEAT- Breathlessness, exhaustion, ankle swelling, time for a blood test.

"That's the message we want to spread across the island."

Dr Pierre Le Page, Consultant Cardiologist at Jersey General hospital says a diagnosis doesn't need to be bad news for islanders anymore.

"People are living longer and feeling better," he said.

"So the expectation for islanders is that a diagnosis for heart failure is a good thing because we know the symptoms and can make you feel better."