Case study from Heart Failure Policy Toolkit

Care pathway developed in consultation with people with heart failure

29 September, 2015

A group of experts from the university of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain, developed a heart failure care pathway to try to ensure all people with heart failure receive consistent and continuous care. The pathway was developed specifically for Galicia, with input from people with heart failure as well as different healthcare professionals involved in the heart failure care pathway.

The care pathway reflects existing clinical guideline recommendations, but also takes into account local resources and service delivery models. The experts used the findings of two focus groups to help identify existing gaps in the delivery of care. One focus group included people with heart failure and their carers, while the other included all relevant professionals involved in heart failure care, both in hospital and in the community.

The pathway provides a detailed outline of the ideal delivery of care in hospital, starting in the emergency room until after discharge into the community. It places a lot of emphasis on the need for appropriate follow-up care and development of appropriate care roles (e.g. heart failure specialist nurses) to provide continuous therapeutic education and information for people after their discharge from hospital.

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The Heart Failure Policy Network is an independent, multidisciplinary platform made possible with financial support from AstraZeneca and Roche Diagnostics. The content produced by the Network is not biased toward any specific treatment or therapy. All outputs are guided and endorsed by the Network’s members. All members provide their time for free. The Network is hosted by The Health Policy Partnership .