The number of people affected by heart failure is set to increase dramatically this decade, but a new hospital structure could be the first step in controlling the crisis, the Irish Heart Foundation said yesterday.
Dr Ken McDonald, chairman of the IHF council on heart failure, launched a strategy for the hospital management of heart failure which, he said, would improve patients' quality of life, save an estimated 110,000 bed days annually and save the Department of Health €27 million in the first year.
The IHF said 60 nurses and 12 specialist dieticians operating in reorganised units countrywide could provide the required care to the 12,000 Irish people who were admitted to hospitals every year with acute heart failure.
In a document, the IHF said the numbers affected by heart failure are set to increase dramatically this decade. "Population growth and disease prevalence projections mean that by 2010, the IHF projects that more than 300,000 Irish people, half having no symptoms, will be directly affected by the illness."
Dr McDonald said the call for hospital management of heart failure was the first step in the overall strategy for the illness.
"The number of people suffering from heart failure is climbing all the time. There is an evolving heart failure crisis in Ireland, currently affecting 80,000 people," he said.
The results would be a saving of 110,000 bed days in the first year, savings of two million bed days from 2002 to 2010, and savings of €27 million in the first year and €500 million by 2010.
The strategy was based on a number of principles. Hospital- admitted patients were at risk. Readmissions could be reduced. The council estimated that the numbers of readmissions for heart failure had exceeded 19,000 in 2001 alone, occupying more than a quarter of a million bed days.
The structured approach required, at the least, a physician with an interest in heart failure and a specialised nurse. Structured care should commence in hospital. Structured hospital-based care should continue on an outpatient basis for three months and structured care should devolve to the community after three months.
Dr McDonald said the strategy, which was supported by cardiologists around the country, had been presented to the Department.
Dr Mark Ledwidge, council vice-chairman, said there were already models in St Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, and other centres and it was a cost-effective strategy.
"There are very few interventions which can actually save money and this is one of them. The cost benefits to the Department and regional health authorities have the potential to save money on bed-space provision which will repay the investment tenfold," he said.
Dr McDonald said they were hopeful the Department would respond.
"We're not talking about major new buildings or new equipment but of provision of speciality nurses and allied healthcare professionals."
The implementation of structured care of heart failure in Irish hospitals was the essential first step in controlling the evolving heart-failure crisis, Dr McDonald added.