A team of Liverpool heart failure specialists has been recognised nationally for their dedication to improving their patients’ quality of life.
UK-wide patient-led heart failure charity, Pumping Marvellous, has presented the team from Aintree University Hospital with two accolades – including the prestigious Team of the Year award.
Comprised of heart failure consultants, nurses (hospital-based and community), admin colleagues, a pharmacist and a multi-speciality multidisciplinary team, the heart failure team was given the honour by the charity’s Chief Executive, Nick Hartshorne, for “excelling at caring for patients living with heart failure” and for “going above and beyond the normal standard of care with commitment, dedication, and loyalty.”
Innovations by the team include setting up the country’s first acute heart failure virtual ward reducing hospital admissions, and first use of portable infusion pump to deliver diuretics at home without the need for electricity. They also set up Merseyside’s first home IV diuretic service with blood testing at home and results within five minutes, which helps patients to manage fluid retention at home, as well as a heart failure pharmacist clinic.
Heart failure is a life-threatening condition in which the heart cannot pump enough blood around the body. The chronic disease affects approximately 1 million people in the UK - around half of patients will die within five years of diagnosis.
Nick said: “Such energy comes from the Aintree Heart Failure Team, and this is why they have been crowned Team of the Year. Through strong leadership and management, both in the hospital and the community setting, the team has pushed the boundaries.”
Dr Rajiv Sankaranarayanan, Consultant Cardiologist and Heart Failure Lead at Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Aintree University Hospital, was also presented with a Never Give Up award for his dedication to his patients.
On receiving the award, Dr Sankaranarayanan said: “We are humbled and honoured to receive this recognition, which is the highest accolade for us, as it comes from the very people that we are delivering the service for - our patients. The credit truly goes to each and every member of a large team of dedicated individuals working hard to beat heart failure.”
Nick added: “Rajiv is the epitome of the phrase “never give up”. He is an inventor, innovator and finisher completer, the latter being an unusual combination with the first two. He is very much in demand across the health system, engaging and storytelling his results, and more importantly, in the ways Rajiv has achieved those results through the marvellous, patient focussed services he and his team deliver.”
Dr Jim Gardner, Chief Medical Officer at Liverpool University Hospitals, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you and congratulations to Dr Sankaranarayanan and the entire heart failure team on winning these awards. It’s clear recognition of their professionalism and the high quality of care they provide to people in Liverpool. We’re proud to have a such an outstanding team at the Trust, who are advocates for their patients and really want to make a difference to the health of the communities we serve.”