The trajectory of heart failure is complex, with periods of stability followed by decompensation. Clinical expertise should be used alongside prognostic indicators to assist the clinician to consider a palliative care approach.
- This could involve placing your patient on the palliative care register with a view to changing the focus of care towards palliation of symptoms rather than prolonging life.
- Specialist advice is available to guide primary care management of patients with more complex needs from the cardiology CNS and specialist palliative care services
- Remember patients with devices such as Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD’s) may need sensitive and timely discussions around deactivation of the device. Advice can be obtained from the Cardiology team about this process.
Remember patients with devices such as Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD’s) may need sensitive and timely discussions around deactivation of the device. Advice can be obtained from the Cardiology team about this process. See Implantable Cardiac Devices – RefHelp (nhslothian.scot)
