Project Name: West of Scotland (Wishaw Cluster) - Heart Failure Audit and Medicines Optimisation Collaborative Working

Project Summary:

The Collaborative Working Project (CWP) with 6 general medical practices (Wishaw Cluster Practices) within NHS Lanarkshire has three main aims:

  • To identify known patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in each general practice and optimise their current heart failure (HF) medications in line with local HF guidelines within the primary care setting.
  • To identify suspected, but currently undiagnosed, HF patients and refer such patients via the NHS Lanarkshire Heart Failure Diagnostic Pathway for formal diagnosis via echocardiogram.
  • The review and update of HF registers within the 6 practices will provide an improved benchmark from which to proactively manage HFrEF patient care.

Planned Milestones:

MilestoneDescription
1Complete date base search
2Completion of Practice 1
3Completion of Practice 2
4Completion of Practice 3
5Completion of Practice 4
6Completion of Practise 5
7Completion of Practise 6
8Analysis of CWP data, submission of Final Project Report, Submission of Outcomes Summary

Expected Benefits:

Benefits to Patients

  • Improved access to diagnosis and treatment
  • More equitable and consistent care and access to care
  • Enhanced experience for patients and their carers who live with HF, this project aims to deliver care closer to home, and potentially prevent traumatic HF decompensations and hospitalisations.

Benefits to NHS Organisations

  • The review and update of HF registers within the 6 practices will provide an improved benchmark from which the practices can proactively manage HF care
  • Increase the overall quality of care and improve equity of access to primary and specialist care for patients with HF
  • Access to shadowing of Interface Clinical Services pharmacists will allow improved knowledge and competence of existing NHS staff to better understand and manage HF
  • Opportunity for other practices in Scotland who are conducting similar projects to connect to share best practice and amalgamate learnings in order to  develop an ‘HF Toolkit’, which may inform ongoing redesign and workforce planning at a national level through Heart Failure Hub Scotland

Benefits to Novartis

  • Further opportunities for the appropriate use of HF  licensed medicines in line with local guidelines, including Novartis’ medicines
  • Ethical, professional, and transparent relationship between Novartis and the Healthcare Organisations
  • Opportunity to facilitate the development of a HF Toolkit, which highlights the need to standardise HF databases and patient care.

Start Date & Duration: 

Initiation: December 2022

Duration: 24 months

UK | May 2024 | UK2405286975