Patients with severe heart disease in London are being treated in their own living rooms under a pioneering NHS scheme that preliminary data suggests will save millions of pounds and hundreds of lives. The programme, run by Barts Health NHS Trust, moves participants rapidly onto high doses of life-saving drugs and monitors them remotely, so adjustments can be made without a hospital visit.
The NHS is one of the most hospital-centric health systems in Europe, but a 10-year plan published by ministers in July last year aims to bring services closer to patients' homes. It targets a falling share of spending on hospital care, with proportionally greater investment in out-of-hospital care.
More than 1mn Britons live with heart failure, a condition that, left untreated, has a prognosis similar to lung cancer. Cases are set to nearly double by 2040. Christopher Primus, consultant cardiologist at Barts, said services funded on the assumption that most patients would have short life expectancy were now "overwhelmed", with some patients waiting more than a year to get the right medication combination.
The STa RT-HF service, established by Primus and Debashish Das, aims to have patients on the most important drugs within two weeks and the full range within six weeks. Pharmacists review daily blood pressure and heart rate readings submitted through a secure online platform. Since launching two years ago, 445 patients have taken part, and none has died or required a hospital admission. During its first year the programme saved £2mn through reduced inpatient admissions, a figure estimated to rise to £5mn if extended across the wider local area.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing