Irish Heart Foundation seeks GP practices for cardiovascular disease management pilot

Expressions of Interest are sought from general practices in Leinster for an innovative chronic disease management pilot project  in cardiovascular disease

The Irish Heart Foundation is inviting GP practices in Leinster to take part in a new cardiovascular disease pilot project as part of the HSE Chronic Disease Management Programme.

The new project, which is headed by the Irish Heart Foundation, with the support of the HSE, will design, deliver and evaluate a behavioural change intervention for patients in disadvantaged communities at high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Studies have shown that people in deprived areas are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease at a younger age and die earlier than those in more affluent areas.

Under the HSE High-Risk Preventive Programme, those at high risk of cardiovascular disease will be entitled to one annual GP visit and one practice nurse visit. Such high-risk patients require active management of their risk factors.

This is challenging to achieve through an annual visit, particularly for vulnerable people and people in deprived areas. To prevent these high-risk patients from developing chronic disease a more intensive approach is required.

Therefore, the Irish Heart Foundation would like to partner with GP practices to support them in caring for patients in disadvantaged communities who are identified as high risk for cardiovascular disease.

The charity is seeking six GP practices in the Leinster area to partner with them on this initiative for two years.

The pilot will involve two groups of three GP practices. In one group the intervention will be run by the established practice nurse and in the other group by a health promotion professional

In the group run by the established practice nurse, the practice will be funded for additional 1/3 WTE i.e. 13hrs per week Practice Nurse time, which will ensure that the Practice Nurse dealing with chronic disease will be released for 13hrs to provide this service

The Irish Heart Foundation would be pleased to accept expressions of interest from general practices that meet the following selection criteria:

Commitment of GP and practice nurse to participate in and recruit suitable patients for co-design workshops between October and December 2020;

Commitment to identify and recruiting 9-12 suitable patients every six weeks for a total of eight programmes per year;

Practice nurse agreement to participate in pre-intervention training;

Space to facilitate patient consultations;

Access to a meeting room for group sessions;

Geographical spread.

For further details, please email Janis Morrissey, Head of Health Promotion, Information and Training at the Irish Heart Foundation at jmorrissey@irishheart.ie. The deadline for applications is Thursday 15 October.