Heart Failure Community Team
Community heart failure nursing service is part of University Hospital Lewisham’s heart failure team.
The team are referred patients with a diagnosis of left ventricular systolic dysfunction by hospital heart failure teams, GP’s and Practice nurses.
The team sees these patients either at home if they are housebound or at clinics in the community. The team are able to provide these patients with support, education and information leaflets & are able to initiate & up-titrate heart failure medications in line with Trust & NICE guidelines.
Patients would be discharged back to the care of their GP or Practice Nurse from the community heart failure service if they remain stable within a certain time frame and once on maximum dose or maximum tolerated heart failure medications.
What services do the team provide?
The community heart failure nursing team provide a home visiting service & heart failure clinics for mobile patients all over the borough of Lewisham.
The team are able to prescribe within the Scope of Practice for heart failure medications.
They are able to educate, support both patients & families on the management of heart failure.
They are able to take & monitor biochemistry results in relation to clinical status of patients & prescribed medications.
The team have good communications links with the heart failure teams at tertiary hospitals (KCH & GSTT).
Who are the services for?
This services are available for all adult patients who have the left ventricular systolic dysfunction diagnosis.
The team can only accept patients with a GP in the London Borough of Lewisham.
Where are patients treated?
Community heart failure clinics are based at South Lewisham HC, Sydenham Green HC, Waldron HC & Lee HC.
How can you get a referral?
Patients can be referred by their GP or other healthcare professionals.
How to contact the service
Admin support available for the service between 10-3 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Patients can contact the community heart failure service by telephone on:
T: 0203 049 3473
Key Staff
- Pippa Askew - Community heart failure nurse specialist
- Ifeyodi Okeyode - Community heart failure nurse specialist
- Susan Gilmour - Community heart failure nurse specialist
- Susan Knapp - Community heart failure administrator
What else do you need to know?
- This service is available from 9-5 pm on a Monday to a Fridays
- The service is not available at night, weekends or on Bank Holidays
- Patients should bring all their medications to their clinic appointments
- The team are referred patients with a diagnosis of left ventricular systolic dysfunction by hospital heart failure teams, GP’s and Practice nurses.
- The team sees these patients either at home if they are housebound or at clinics in the community. The team are able to provide these patients with support, education & information leaflets & are able to initiate & up-titrate heart failure medications in line with Trust & NICE guidelines
- Patients would be discharged back to the care of their GP or Practice Nurse from the community heart failure service if they remain stable within a certain time frame and once on maximum dose or maximum tolerated heart failure medications