North Shropshire heart patients can now access hospice help thanks to grant

The Wrexham based hospice says it will give patients with the condition improved access to managing their care in a planned and coordinated way, enabling them to live their best life possible.

A heart failure nurse specialist has been appointed thanks to a £40,000 grant from the St James’s Place Charitable Foundation, administered by Hospice UK.

The local health board has given further resources.

Dr Jenny Welstand, Hospice Heart Failure Nurse Specialist said 26 per cent of patient deaths in the UK were heart failure related compared to 27 per cent for cancer patients, yet only four percent of heart failure patients were cared for by a hospice and palliative care team compared to 70 per cent of cancer patients.

The hospice says that the hospice can give advice including practical and emotional concerns of living with heart failure and this could be of help many years before death.

“Palliative symptoms are often under-estimated and inadequately addressed, mainly because patients can often look much better than they feel. The service allows us to assess patients in clinic and via telephone, not only to manage their symptoms and medication alongside the heart failure team, but also to support them with concerns and problems they identify as important to them. Importantly we also support families who often shoulder the burden of care and the emotional issues this brings.

“We received significant feedback from our patients who were adamant they wanted to live their lives in the best way possible and feel supported. As our joint pilot project progressed the word ‘hospice’ became less of a fear as the benefits of the service developed.

“Hospice-enabled care has transformed the care our local Heart Failure Team can offer and invigorated our hospice team. Both teams know we still have so much to learn, but we want to carry on doing this together.”