Improving the quality of life and outcomes of people in the UK living with heart failure
- 08 October 2024
- 4 min read
The NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular partnership has supported the set-up of the UK HFpEF network.
A £1.3M NIHR Advanced Fellowship funding award enabled the set-up of the UK HFpEF network. The aim of the network is to speed up the development of new treatments for HFpEF (Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction). This will in turn improve patient quality of life and outcomes.
Why HFpEF needs to be better understood
Heart failure means that the heart is no longer able to pump blood around the body properly. It causes people to develop breathlessness, swollen legs and severe tiredness. Around one million people in the UK have heart failure. These numbers are expected to almost double by 2040. Heart failure is the most common reason for hospital admissions in older people. Three out of every ten people diagnosed die within a year. People with heart failure often have a poor quality of life. As such, heart failure is one of the most important health challenges facing the UK.
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) occurs when the forward pumping function of the heart remains normal in patients with heart failure. This happens in more than half of patients with heart failure. It is associated with factors such as older age, obesity and diabetes. Despite its prevalence, HFpEF is not well understood. Treatment for this disabling and deadly condition is currently limited. We need many more ways to help people.
The NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular partnership supports the development of a UK collaborative network
The NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular partnership supported Professor Chris Miller (Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Manchester, Consultant Cardiologist at Manchester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and an NIHR Advanced Fellow) in his application for a £1.3M NIHR Advanced Fellowship. The funding and support from the partnership helped to establish a network ‘UK HFpEF’. UK HFpEF has enabled coordination of the UK’s leading expertise in this field. The network has grown to include more than 100 investigators from more than 55 sites. This includes heart failure specialists (doctors, nurses, pharmacists) and a range of methodological expertise. Patients and carers have been central to the development of the network. They have helped to influence and guide all aspects. The collaborative framework of the partnership has enabled study design and infrastructure. These reflect the views of patients and the consensus of UK multidisciplinary expertise.
Aims of the UK HFpEF network
- Develop a large, prospective, extensively characterised and sustainable Registry of patients with HFpEF. This will enable detailed investigations of the causes and identification of HFpEF. It will find ways to improve diagnosis, better guide care, and prioritise therapeutic targets.
- Establish a national HFpEF trial platform, which continuously recruits via the Registry. This will create efficient, effective and inclusive ways to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of interventions for HFpEF.
- Position the UK as the most attractive country globally for the life sciences industry to invest in HFpEF research. This will be accomplished by achieving aims 1 and 2 and by providing a coordinated, UK-wide point of access.
Professor Miller, Chief Investigator of UK HFpEF, praised the support provided by the NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular partnership
“A large-scale, co-ordinated, interdisciplinary effort is required to speed up drug discovery and innovation and improve treatment strategies. We have been able to garner widespread UK and international support. This is due to the unmet need, and our scientifically robust, inclusive, enabling and collaborative approach. This has all been facilitated by the NIHR-BHF Cardiovascular partnership”
UK HFpEF ultimately aims to speed up the translation of scientific discovery into patient benefit and driving global commercial investment.
“The co-ordinated nationwide approach facilitated by the partnership is enabling the UK to be highly attractive to industry. ”
Next steps
Professor Miller has recently been awarded over £2m via a BHF Special Project Grant. The grant will enable recruitment to the registry to be extended up to 7,000 participants. It will also enrich the analyses performed and data collected on the participants in the UK HFpEF registry. This funded project marks a key step in establishing a world-leading open access HFpEF research platform that will transform HFpEF research in the UK and globally.
Learn more about the HFpEF's NIHR Advanced Fellowship Award.
Find out more about UK HFpEF registry network and study progress.
