New heart failure care program

A new program to improve care and stop the ‘hospital revolving door’ for Tasmanians with heart failure will be discussed at a symposium in Hobart tomorrow.

The Tasmanian Heart Failure Program supports medical, nursing and allied health professionals in southern Tasmania with training and resources to improve the management of people with heart failure in the community so that they can avoid needing to go to hospital.

It is the result of a partnership between Primary Health Tasmania, the Tasmanian Department of Health and Human Services, Heart Foundation Tasmania, the Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, and Novartis Australia.

Heart Foundation CEO Graeme Lynch said an estimated 25,000 Tasmanians are living with heart failure.

“Heart failure occurs when, due to wear and tear or damage, the heart can no longer pump sufficient blood around the body for normal physical functioning,” he said. “It can result in people being fatigued, short of breath, and having difficulty walking or climbing stairs.”

Primary Health Tasmania general manager Susan Powell said: “It is important that this program is taking place in Tasmania, as we know that heart failure is one of the top five conditions in Tasmania where people are re-hospitalised regularly when their condition deteriorates.”

Ms Powell said the heart failure care program focuses on supporting a system of integrated community care involving GPs, practice nurses, specialist heart failure nurses, pharmacists and allied professionals, by providing education and support to these health professionals managing patients with heart failure.

Kate Silk of the Australian Health and Hospitals Association said: “The Tasmanian Heart Failure Project is a mixture of professional education, best practice management, and better resources.
“People with heart failure and their families will also receive new user-friendly educational materials about the condition.

“The project will operate initially in the south of Tasmania in areas where there is a high number of potentially preventable heart failure hospital admissions, including in Glenorchy, the Derwent Valley, Brighton, Sorell, Richmond, Dodges Ferry and Lewisham.

“We’re hopeful that eventually the program will operate across the state.”

Details of the program will be provided to healthcare professionals attending a chronic conditions symposium in Hobart tomorrow (Saturday, 11 February).
Jenny Denholm Manager – Communications and Marketing, Primary Health Tasmania