Project: HF pledge

In the run-up to the European Parliament elections in 2019, the Heart Failure Patient Council of the Global Heart Hub partnered with HFPN to call on all candidates to pledge their support to improving the lives of EU citizens with heart failure.

By signing the pledge, candidates and Members of the European Parliament committed to six priority actions:

• Developing a formal strategy on HF ­– encouraging member states to create comprehensive national plans that address the growing burden of HF, and advocating for consultation with patients in the development of such plans.
• Supporting timely and appropriate diagnosis of HF – advocating for increased access to specialist-led diagnosis and appropriate diagnostic tests, such as natriuretic peptide testing and echocardiogram.
• Encouraging multidisciplinary care – supporting investment in gold-standard integrated and multidisciplinary HF management programmes that combine medical management with other supportive strategies.
• Improving professional education on HF – advocating for training on HF among all healthcare professionals, including GPs, internists and allied health professionals, and supporting the recognition of the role of HF specialist nurses via accreditation of training programmes.
• Supporting person-centred approaches in HF care – encouraging the development of national guidelines and care pathways that advocate a person-centred care approach, ensuring that decision-making is shared between healthcare professionals and people with HF across the entire care journey.
• Developing robust and public national audits of performance – supporting investment in reliable HF data collection to ensure accountability on patient survival, quality of life and experience of care, and to guide improvements and incentives.