A new system involving technology and heart failure nurses at a Norfolk hospital has seen device alert response times plummet from weeks to just days.
The success of the device alerts initiative has seen the heart failure team at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (NNUH) recognised by the British Cardiovascular Society.
“It has allowed us to respond more quickly to changes in their condition, helping to prevent symptom deterioration”
Alvin Ramgoolam
Those behind the initiative noted that patients with heart failure are at risk of accumulating additional fluid, which can require admission to hospital.
Some are fitted with implantable devices, such as pacemakers and defibrillators, which can trigger alerts if a patient is accumulating too much fluid, before they come into hospital.
In May this year, the trust’s heart failure team, under the stewardship of cardiology registrar Dr Will Jenner, started a new system to pick up these alerts called “Co-Management”.
The trust said that, under the system, alerts were now directly triaged to the heart failure specialist nurses and responded to appropriately.
Following training and new protocols, device alerts from over 500 of the trust’s patients have begun going directly to the heart failure specialist nurses.
A member of the team contacts the patient and can give verbal advice, arrange a hospital review or make changes to medications, which might help prevent deterioration or need for an admission.
The system has been a collaborative service improvement project between the specialist nurses, cardiac physiologists and cardiology doctors.
Since implementation, the average time for patients to be contacted following a heart failure device alert has “dropped from an average of three weeks to just three days”, according to the trust.
Dr Jenner recently presented the initiative at the British Cardiovascular Society annual meeting in Manchester in June, where it was awarded a prize for the service improvement achieved by team.
Speaking about the new system, he said: “Previous response to alerts was limited by a complex pathway, which made alerts less effective in preventing hospitalisations.
“The new “Co-Management” system for Medtronic devices allows alerts to be rapidly streamlined,” he said.
“Now our heart failure specialist nurses are trained in how to use the Carelink system, ensuring that alerts go to the right people at the right time.
“It’s yet another great example of how our heart failure specialist nurses use their experience and skill in the management of heart failure patients to prevent hospital admissions,” he added.
Specialist heart failure nurse Alvin Ramgoolam said: “We’re delighted to be collaborating with Dr Jenner on the implementation of this vital technology for our heart failure patients.
“It has allowed us to respond more quickly to changes in their condition, helping to prevent symptom deterioration and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.”
NNUH medical director Dr Bernard Brett added: “This is fantastic work by the team with a successful multidisciplinary approach and the utilisation of technology.”
Pictured above, from left to right, are specialist heart failure nurses Alex Tucker, Litty Thomas and Joanna MacFarlane, principal physiologist Andrea Taylor, specialist heart failure nurses Alvin Ramgoolam and Malathy Baby, and cardiology registrar Dr Will Jenner.
