Heart failure clinic information for patients

Clinics

• Rapid access one stop heart failure clinic

  Lead clinician: Dr Gerry Carr-White (consultant cardiologist) and Dr Ronak Rajani (consultant cardiologist).

  This is a one stop heart failure clinic for newly suspected or patients with heart failure.

  Investigations done at the clinic visit could include:

  • echocardiography
  • ECG (electrocardiogram)
  • cardiopulmonary exercise testing
  • blood tests
  • x-rays
  • spirometry.

  We try to see patients within two or six weeks of referral as per National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines.

• Nurse-led heart failure clinic

  This is a nurse-led clinic for patients already diagnosed with heart failure, providing close observation and follow-up, monitoring and up-titration of (increasing and adjusting) medication, assessment of educational needs and management strategies.

• Elderly care heart failure clinic

  Lead clinician: Dr Rebekah Schiff (care of the elderly consultant)

  This is a specialist clinic for older patients with heart failure and other serious conditions. The clinic has close links with our elderly care and cardiology hospital and community based services.

• Bexley heart failure clinics 

  Lead clinician: Dr Ed Petzer

  Guy's and St Thomas' heart failure specialist nurses support this clinic with daily nurse-led clinics.

  It is a community based heart failure clinic with diagnostic facilities including ECG and echocardiography.