Listening to the messages from heart failure patients

Heart failure (HF) is a long term condition. It results in progressive, worsening health and frequent and prolonged periods in hospital. Digital solutions to monitoring patients often involve additional equipment in patient's homes to 'listen' to their bodies - their pulse, their blood pressure etc. Our project at its centre listens to patients themselves.

We use patient responses to texts (as simple as 'Do you feel better , the same or worse to how you felt when you last texted?') and their assessment of their symptoms and circumstances - from a chart graded like a traffic light system - to determine their risks of being hospitalised again. We will use their own phones with an interactive texting service called 'Flo'

This is not an emergency service, will use a care co-ordinator to monitor patient's responses and identify people who are gradually getting worse and offer help earlier - as patients often wait 30 days from feeling worse to ending up in hospital.

Equally the problems making people worse may be due to their circumstances e.g. their finances, loneliness etc. Our care co-ordinator will use a web based tool - i Navigation - to identify local organisations that can help and then refer patients directly to them - 'prescribing' a social enterprise to help.

We have also increased the amount, type and responsiveness of medical help outside of A+E for patients feeling worse - understanding that patients often have multiple problems other than HF alone.

We will also help patients to understand their condition better.

Often patients are informed of their condition through a one off talk or a pamphlet or a large booklet - education not tailored to their need. We will 'prescribe' multi-media material specific to patient's needs need to create a personalised web library through a programme called Recap Health. This can be accessed by patients at a time of convenience or need, on their own computers.

Our project aims to listen to patients and respond pro-actively to patient's who are getting worse. We offer them more individualised choice of help in the form of 'prescribing' HF education packages, appropriate social enterprises who can help, or alternative choices of care outside the A+E. We hope that this will mean that HF patients spend more time at home, in their communities and with their friends rather than in the A+E or in hospital.