We are a team of specialist nurses and cardiologists, supporting people with heart failure.
How to be referred
To see our team, you need a referral from your GP or a heart doctor at the hospital.
We are based at Addenbrooke’s and only see patients under the care of the Cardiology team here.
Your GP might:
- check your symptoms
- arrange a blood test called NT-proBNP
- refer you to us if your test result is high
We don’t offer home visits and we don’t see patients in the community.
When to get medical help
Non-urgent advice: See your GP
See your GP if you have symptoms that stay the same or slowly get worse. These can include:
- feeling out of breath
- swollen ankles
- feeling more tired than usual
These problems might be caused by something else, but it’s still important to get them checked.
Urgent advice: In an emergency
Call 999 or go to A&E if your symptoms come on suddenly or are very bad. You may need urgent treatment in hospital.
What is heart failure
Heart failure means the heart isn't pumping blood around the body as well as it should.
You can find more information on the NHS website: Heart failure (opens in a new tab).
What our team offers
We are here to support you with your heart failure diagnosis. We provide:
Education
We explain your condition clearly and give you written and verbal information. You’ll have time to ask questions.
Support and advice
We help you manage your symptoms and make choices about your care.
Medication reviews
We check your medicines to make sure they’re right for you.
Referrals
We can refer you to other services like Cardiac Rehab, the Breathlessness Intervention Team or Palliative Care.
Consultant support
We work closely with heart specialists and meet with them every week. We can contact them quickly if needed.
After each appointment, we will let your GP know about any changes.
When your symptoms are stable, our regular input will stop. However, you can still contact us through the Heart Failure Helpline using Patient Initiated Follow-Up (PIFU).
If you haven’t been seen by our team, or by your Cardiology doctor for more than 12 months, we will ask for another referral from your GP.
Our clinics
We run different clinics depending on what you need. These can be face-to-face, over the phone or online.
Education clinic
This helps you understand heart failure and manage your condition with confidence.
Ambulatory care
This is for people who need extra support. You may come in up to three times a week. We may change your medicines or give treatments like IV diuretics or iron.
Medication clinic
For people with lower heart function. We’ll check and adjust your medicines regularly until they’re right for you.
Brief phone calls
If you’re under our care, you can leave a message on our Helpline. We check messages three times a day, Monday to Friday, and will call you back.
About our service
- We are a team of heart failure specialist nurses and administration staff. We work closely with consultant cardiologists who are experts in heart failure care.
- We meet each week as a team to review patient cases and make decisions together.
- We do not provide long-term care but aim to support you until your condition is stable.
- We then discharge you back to the care of your GP, with the option to return via Patient initiated follow up (PIFU).