New heart failure clinic in Cromer

A new clinic for heart failure patients starts in Cromer Hospital this week.

With £107,000 funding from the Hospitals Charity for 23 months, the nurse-led clinic will enable patients living in North Norfolk to receive treatment closer to their homes.

Lucie Legg, Heart Failure Lead Nurse Specialist, will assess patients, review and prescribe medications and organise iron infusions, freeing capacity at NNUH to introduce an extra clinic.

“It’s an exciting opportunity to support patients and community nurses in North Norfolk area,” she said. “I’m grateful to the Charity for funding this clinic and to Cromer Hospital for accommodating the expansion of service – we’re working towards reducing the number of patients who require a hospital admission.”

The heart failure service is expanding to meet the needs of a rising number of patients. One in seven people over the age of 70 will be diagnosed with heart failure and, with a high proportion of older people in Norfolk, the team are seeing more patients.

Kristian Skinner, Consultant Cardiologist, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the N&N Hospitals Charity for supporting this clinic.

“It’s a busy time for our service. We’ve currently got two of our nurses going through their prescriber training. Once qualified, they will be able to run more nurse-led services to optimise patients’ medication. These developments will benefit patients and the Trust overall, because the quicker you can get patients on the right medication, the less chance they have of being admitted, which is better for everyone.”

Bernard Brett, Medical Director, added: “I am delighted that we have been able to establish this service for our patients. This should improve their care with reduced symptoms, a better quality of life and significantly reduce the risk that they might need to be admitted to hospital. A big thanks to the N&N Hospitals Charity, their support with this is really appreciated.”

John Paul Garside, Director of the N&N Hospitals Charity, said: “We are delighted to make this further investment in expanding the services available to the people of North Norfolk at Cromer Hospital. We will gather feedback on the new clinic in the hope that it can continue after the initial two years.”