Our specialist community team can assess Wiltshire residents who have suspected heart failure, providing heart scans called echocardiograms.

If the scan shows that a patient does have heart failure, they are given an appointment to be reviewed and assessed by a specialist practitioner in heart failure who, with the patient, agree a treatment and management plan.

Our heart failure specialist nurse team also supports patients who have had a recent admission to hospital for heart failure.

Patients are referred into our service by their GP.  We are unable to accept self-referrals. Please consult with your GP if you wish to access the service.

What is heart failure?

The term ‘heart failure’ is used to describe a set of conditions that prevent the heart from pumping blood around the body as well as it should.

How to access the service?

You may have been transferred to us for ongoing care or referred to us as a new patient by your GP using a form they accessed through your electronic records.

Once we receive your referral we will assess how quickly we will need to see you. We try to see everyone as soon as we possibly can.  Our heart failure team will contact you to make an appointment, usually by telephone. If we are unable to contact you by telephone an appointment letter will be sent to you in the post.

Please let us know before your appointment if you need an interpreter.  You may wish to bring a relative or friend who is able to translate.  Alternatively, the heart failure team will try to arrange a phone-based interpreter service.

You may be seen by a male or female member of the team. If you would like a chaperone to attend your appointment with you, please let us know before your appointment.

We are unable to provide transport to appointments. Wiltshire Link is a local voluntary service who may be able to help you get to your appointment. Please follow this link to view their website 

What will the service deliver?

Wiltshire Health and Care provide the Wiltshire Community Heart Failure and Cardiac diagnostics Service, linked to our main community hospital sites. This is being introduced in a phased approach, beginning in the South of Wiltshire (areas such as Wilton, Salisbury, Amesbury), supported by Salisbury District Hospital. The service will be expanded to the North and West areas of the county throughout the year.

If you are unsure if you come under the South of Wiltshire or have a query about which service is available to you, please check with your GP who will be able to confirm this.

Wiltshire Health and Care will be delivering the following services across Wiltshire:

  • Community heart failure diagnosis and treatment, working closely with our three secondary care providers
  • Heart failure rehabilitation
  • Community cardiology diagnostics.
  • Advice and guidance, to offer interpretation and treatment advice to support primary care management of patients, where that is appropriate.

The heart failure service team

The team providing the Wiltshire Community Heart Failure and Cardiac diagnostic Service is made up of cardiac physiologists, nurses, practitioners, and administrative staff who specialise in supporting patients with heart failure. At present the team covers the South of Wiltshire and will be expanding to the North and West areas of Wiltshire throughout the coming year.

Your heart failure nurse will work closely with your GP and with guidance from our team of specialists to ensure that you receive the best treatment.

How to contact the team

As a South Wiltshire patient, you can contact us by telephone on 01249 456605

Our phones are covered Monday to Friday, 08:30 – 16:30.  If there is no answer, please leave us a message and we will call you back within 48 hours.

Remember, if at any time you consider your condition to be life-threatening, please dial 999 immediately.

If you would like to provide feedback on the service you have received, you can do this anonymously by clicking here to the Friends and Family Test survey

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