Heart Valve Voice News
10 December 2020
Heart valve disease is a serious cardiovascular condition which can be fatal if left untreated. Following on from our Heart Health Survey, Global Heart Hub’s Heart Valve Disease Patient Council has partnered with The Health Policy Partnership, an independent health policy research organisation, to develop a report aiming to raise stakeholder awareness of heart valve disease across Europe.
04 December 2020
COVID-19 has placed a huge strain on the NHS and led to the delay of thousands of appointments and heart valve disease treatments. But behind every number is a story, and this is the story of Patient 428. All individual's identities have been kept anonymous.
19 October 2020
Across the country, COVID-19 infections continue to rise, and as the infection rates rise, so too do hospital admissions and, sadly, deaths. As we move forward in this second wave of COVID-19 response, we must learn from the first wave. For most people suffering from heart valve disease, the consequences of not being treated far outweigh the risk of contracting COVID-19 whilst in hospital. Therefore, the first lesson we should take from the first wave is to continue to treat heart valve disease patients in a timely and safe way.
16 October 2020
Heart Valve Voice’s Gold Standard sets out specific recommendations for multidisciplinary teams (MDTs). One of the impacts of COVID-19 has been the move from in-person MDT's to a virtual format. These new virtual MDTs are a step in the right direction, as this more agile approach will allow for faster decision making, and with more input from external services.
11 August 2020
Today, Heart Valve Voice launch our Virtual Appointment Guide for valve disease patients. The guide was created in response to the reduction of in-person services due to COVID-19 and will help foster the same comfort and confidence patients feel when they meet their clinician.
26 May 2016
New survey data highlights that 94% of the over 60s in the UK do not know what aortic stenosis is, and less than 3% say heart valve disease is the condition that gives them significant concern compared to other illnesses. This is despite annual mortality of untreated and severe aortic stenosis being considerably higher than most cancers* and approximately 1 million people over 65 years of age are thought to suffer from heart valve disease in the UK. Additionally, 72% of over 60s reported that they rarely, or never, have their hearts listened to by a doctor.