Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 4 July 2023
684. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health his plans to tackle the revolving door syndrome in heart failure treatment that has resulted in a 90-day re-admission rate to hospital of 30%, according to the HSE’s Heart Failure Model of Care 2021; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32695/23]
View answerHeart Failure is an important public health issue that affects approximately 90,000 of our population, it is a complex condition with increasing numbers. Across Europe, and in Ireland heart failure remains a significant demand on health services and in particular hospital-based care. While not all hospital admissions can be avoided there is growing evidence of how to improve hospital avoidance.
There has been progress across Ireland in this area of care and the detection and prevention of heart failure is a priority. The National Clinical Programme for heart failure is developed to improve quality of life for people living with the syndrome. To support this the programme (HSE), is currently in the process of linking in with the European Society of Cardiology who have an excellent platform to enable registry development on not only heart failure but other cardiovascular conditions. The National Heart Programme working under the guidance of Dr Peter Kearney is engaging with the EuroHeart programme to bring the cardiovascular data base project to Ireland and further improve our data and information for continued development.
Ireland’s wider community of clinical practice in heart failure has provided leading research and innovation that continues to inform this care around the world. The STOP-HF project for example is a dedicated heart failure prevention strategy. This first-of-type concept has been proven to be successful and has resulted in changes in international guidelines. Ireland is among the world leaders in developing strategies to prevent heart failure.
Ireland is promoting pioneering innovations like the HeartCare at Home, a primary care project, which is open to all people with heart failure in Ireland. To get heart failure specialist care to a wider cohort of patients ‘Virtual Consultation’ allows on-line, real-time discussion of heart failure case questions with a family doctor. This consultation results in very effective remote management, avoiding unnecessary referrals and travel for the patient and facilitates the sharing of specialist expertise.
There has been significant investment in Integrated Care Programmes for Chronic Disease which includes heart failure. This investment has enabled the development of structures of care which will significantly improve all aspects of heart failure care including speed of diagnosis, access to cardiac diagnostic and therapies.
There are clear, evidence-based guidelines and excellent case studies of effective models of care in heart failure however, recognising the importance of preventing unnecessary hospitalisations and deaths and maximising people’s quality of life is the priority. Progress has been to inform the next steps for this important work and to understand the challenges more, a National Review of our adult Specialist Cardiac Services which includes heart failure was commissioned. The Report is now finalised and is being prepared currently for my consideration. The Reviews recommendations will inform the future provision of cardiac services nationally.
