Management of heart failure patients in the general medical wards

1. Management of heart failure patients in the general medical wards Yee Cheng Lau, Qaiser Aleem, Tahir Hamid, J E McDonald , K. P. Balachandran , R. Singh Royal Blackburn Hospital, Blackburn, UK, Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, UK RESULTS: INTRODUCTION MEDICATIONS & FOLLOW-UP • Heart Failure defined as insufficient cardiac output to meet needs of body. • Symptoms: breathlessness, lethargy, and oedema. • Increasing incidence due to increasing age and improving survival post Myocardial Infarction (MI). • Approximate 130,000 admissions in UK, average 10 days inpatient stay each. • In-patient management of heart failure varies and depends on admission to coronary care unit, cardiology ward or general medical wards. • Echocardiogram • Medications on discharge AIMS • Follow-up and Discharge Advice • To assess the trend of medical therapy of unselected population of patients admitted to the district general hospital with heart failure, comparing to the standards set out by national guidelines. • ECG, Cardiac rhythm and QRS duration METHODS • Retrospective Study involving 100 case notes coded for “heart failure” on discharge/death over a 12 months period. • Notes were reviewed and data documented on a standardised proforma • 76 sets of notes are included, 24 excluded due to wrong coding (eg. Pneumonia, COPD, asthma) CONCLUSION • Inpatient cardiology management of heart failure on a non-cardiology ward is suboptimal. Increasing coverage of cardiology consult will be beneficial. DEMOGRAPHICS • 46% male • Mean age: 80 +/- 9 years • Median inpatient stay: 6 days • Inpatient mortality rate of 17% CONFLICT OF INTERESTS • None