Community heart failure service

Welcome to the Community Heart Failure Service. We assess, treat and support patients diagnosed with heart failure who live in Tower Hamlets.

In order to develop a comprehensive, individualised treatment plan for each patient with heart failure and utilise the facilities, the community heart failure team has strengthened its close working links with the hospital based heart failure team, cardiac rehabilitation nurse specialist, physical and occupational therapists, mental health professionals, social workers, hospital/local pharmacists and palliative care teams across the region.

Find out more about the services we provide by using the following links:

About our service

Our aim is to ensure that all patients receive evidence-based treatments in line with national and international heart failure guidelines that best suit their needs. Patients are offered advice and education to help them understand and manage their condition, thus improving their health and quality of life.

In these ways we aim to not only improve the patients’ health but also help them to identify when their condition is changing so that they can take the correct steps to get help and prevent their condition from deteriorating and possibly needing hospital admission.

We care for patients who are primarily housebound but also hold a number of community clinics for patients who have expressed a preference not to be seen in the hospital.

Accessing this service

This is not an emergency service and access is determined by a patient’s level of need. There are also some community clinics for those who are more able bodied but who no longer need to attend the hospital services.

People can be referred to our service by:

  • The hospital based heart failure team
  • Hospital consultants, usually following discharge from hospital.
  • Your GP
  • A GP practice nurse
  • District nurses
  • Secondary and Primary Care Specialist Nurses
  • Community Matrons

Appointments

Appointments are made by our heart failure nurses from Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm (excluding bank holidays).

Out of hours: Please contact your GP or your local out of hours GP.

For emergencies: In the event of an emergency call 999. Where medical attention is needed but it’s not an emergency please call 111.

Who will I see?

The community heart failure team is a nurse led service and comprises of heart failure nurse specialists with clinical support from the consultant cardiologists.We offer services depending your clinical need including community clinics, through telephone support and in home visits for those who are housebound.

We aim to see patients referred to the service within one to two weeks at home or community clinics.

Location of the Heart Failure Services

Mile End Hospital   
Bancroft Road 
London, E1 4DG

Tel: 020 8121 4152

Bethnal Green Health Centre
60 Florida Street
London, E2 6LL

Tel: 0207 739 6677

For enquiries or to make, cancel or change an appointment, call our heart failure administrator on 020 8223 8658.

Alternatively you can contact any member of the team on 020 8121 4152/4150 and leave a message.

Before your appointment

If you have been referred to the Community Heart Failure Service and have an appointment either within one of our clinics or at home please remember to have the following with you.

  • A list of all medicines and recent information you have been given by your doctors or health care professionals.
  • Make a list of your current symptoms and changes in your condition and how you feel.
  • Write down your concerns and questions.

Heart Failure Services for clinicians

Patients can be referred to the community heart failure clinic by primary and secondary care healthcare professionals via the Single Point of Access (SPA).

Patients must have a diagnosis of heart failure, confirmed by echocardiogram before they can be referred to the clinic. Referrals can be made by Single Point of Access.

The following criterion is required for further medical assessment before referral:

  • Atrial Fibrillation with a heart rate above 100bpm
  • Syncope within six months
  • Current unstable angina
  • Baseline creatinine great than 150µmol/L or GFR less than 30

We do not accept referrals for patients with the following criteria:

  • If the patient refuses service
  • People under the age of 18 years
  • If the patient does not have objective evidence of cardiac dysfunction as a cause of heart failure.
  • If they have other immediate life-threatening illnesses e.g. end stage renal failure, sever COPD, advanced malignancy.

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