The end of life care needs of people with heart failure often go unrecognised and unmet. This conference will focus on communication and discussion about end of life care and will hear from people living with heart failure.
Cardiovascular disease is mentioned as an underlying or contributory cause on 45% of death certificates in England, more than any other group of conditions. NICE has recommended that people with moderate to severe chronic heart failure should have access to both a heart failure specialist and a palliative care service. Despite this, the end of life care needs of people with heart failure often go unrecognised and unmet. People with cardiovascular disease are more likely to die in hospital than people with cancer. There is still considerable professional reserve about discussing end of life care for people with heart failure.
This conference will focus on communication and discussion about end of life care and will hear from people living with heart failure. It will include sessions on discussions about Implantable Cardiac Devices (ICDs), including the consent process prior to implantation as well as deactivation. It will also include sessions on training, as well as interactive workshops on symptom management, advance care planning, and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Marie Curie Cancer Care’s Caring Together programme
All conference delegates will receive a free copy of NCPC and BHF’s new publication ‘Difficult Conversations about Heart Failure’ which will be launched on the day.
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