Blogs

In my last blog, I discussed the importance of capturing key learnings from Phase 1 of NHS England's COVID-19 response and looked at ways in which we could use these learnings to support us in delivering the NHS Long Term Plan.

Heart Valve Voice advocate, Ian, has challenged himself to cycle 25 miles every day for 25 days to raise awareness of heart valve disease. With 14 days of cycling in his legs, Ian gave us this update.

Heart Valve Voice's patient advocate, Ian, has taken up the challenge of cycling 25 miles every day for 25 days and to raise awareness of heart valve disease and raise money for Heart Valve Voice. With seven days of cycling under his belt, he decided to update us on his progress.

​In an email sent out last week, NHS England signalled a move from phase 1 to phase 2 of its Covid-19 response. The email maps a move to restart urgent elective care procedures in the next six weeks, as well as some non-urgent elective care procedures.

At the very height of the country’s response to the COVID19 outbreak, George became unwell and was rushed to hospital unaware that the heart valve disease symptoms he was suffering were life-threatening.

In a statement from Heart Valve Voice and the UK’s professional cardiovascular societies, we highlighted a concerning trend across the UK showing the number of people presenting at hospitals with cardiac conditions has reduced significantly due to failures to act on the deterioration of symptoms and putting people lives at greater risk. 

Combatting COVID-19 is an extraordinary challenge, and to do our bit to combat the spread of the virus, the nation is being asked to stay at home. Staying in is essential as limiting our contact with others will reduce the risk of us catching the virus as well as passing the virus on if we are carrying. By managing the scale of the outbreak we reduce the strain put on the NHS and help them to save more lives.

The last few weeks have seen COVID-19 (Coronavirus) cause significant alarm and disruption around the world and I wanted to take this opportunity to talk a little more about the disease and the effects the disruption could have on heart valve disease patients.

In my last blog, I discussed how innovative technology will be a central component in the improved detection, diagnosis, and treatment of heart valve disease.