Nursewins cardiac care excellence award

The service run by Dr Jacky Austin (pictured third from left), consultant nurse in heart failure services at the busy Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny, South Wales, has led to fewer admissions with fewer days spent in hospital for the patients who have taken part. The patients also reported an improvement in quality of life. Dr Austin becomes the third person to be awarded a BHF Excellence Award in a scheme launched last year. The awards are open to all nurses and allied health professionals working to improve heart health in any way in the UK.

Awarded twice a year, the aim is to highlight and reward work which has been shown to improve the quality of service in their area of work.

Dr Austin’s programme is among the first of its type in the UK in that it distinguishes the unique needs of heart failure patients from those of other heart patients. Cardiac rehabilitation is a service that promotes and enhances self-care through education, exercise training, lifestyle advice and optimisation of drug therapy for heart patients.