Westminster Forum

Westminster Forum

Wednesday 4th March 2020

Last Tuesday’s Westminster Forum focussed on the next steps in prevention, innovation and delivery of care for cardiovascular disease.

With a new parliament in place the NHS Long Term Plan needs to take the next, and necessary, steps to become more than just talk and begin the process of implementing real change.

Changes in structure and ways of thinking are required at every level, and much discussion was given to how we affect change for the individual, the community and the population as a whole. For Heart Valve Voice, discussions like this serve a vital purpose in analysing how our awareness and policy drives can be improved and enhanced to ensure they align with the strategic direction of NHS England and The Long Term Plan.

Talk throughout the day focussed on three levels:

  1. The Individual: taking responsibility of your own health management
  2. The Community: optimising service provision, environment restructuring, training and social networks creating shared responsibility.
  3. The National: regulation, legislation and guidelines that deliver prevention, innovation and optimal patient experience.

You can read more about the details here.

One of the key take home messages of the day was in regards to streamlining the pathway to access new innovation. Lack of funding, limited access and hold ups in certifications all slow down opportunities in innovation. We need to see innovation introduced early to ensure optimal patient pathways. Our CEO Wil Woan wrote previously about the need for better access to innovative treatments. For Heart Valve Voice it is important that patients have all the treatment options available and so they can be empowered to decide what is best for them.

For Primary Care, improving inequalities in access will be the main challenge in improving prevention and delivery of care. This is a complex challenge, with inequalities determined by a diverse range of factors including geography, poverty and mental health. However two key takeaways from the day will drive this agenda:

  1. Make every contact count
  2. Getting it right first time

Reducing inequalities in access is the great challenge of delivering on the Long Term Plan and ensuring heart valve disease is diagnosed, detected and treated as quickly as possible. To do this, Heart Valve Voice will continue to work closely with primary care providers to help deliver the information and technology needed to ensure that every contact counts and we get it right first time.

Dr Paul Clift, Consultant Cardiologist and National Speciality Lead for Cardiovascular Disease, said in his key message on the NHS Long Term Plan “don’t forget about cardiovascular disease.” This comprehensive plan for the future of healthcare in the UK is complex and its implementation will take time. Organisations like Heart Valve Voice are therefore essential to ensuring that the plan progresses in a timely fashion and that the recommendations at forums like this are taken on board and affect the change needed to ensure optimisation of patient experience.

We look froward to the next Westminster Forum and the continued progress.