The role of Clinical Valve Coordinators. A clinical consensus statement of the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiac Interventions (EAPCI) and the Association of Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professionals (ACNAP) of the ESC

Abstract Increasingly, transcatheter options are available for the treatment of valvular heart disease. The role of the Clinical Valve Coordinator is ideally positioned to improve access to care, quality of outcomes and patient experiences, and contribute to the efficient cardiac programmes and the growing number of heart valve centres. International societies and guidelines recommend the inclusion of the Clinical Valve Coordinator in multidisciplinary Heart Teams to support patients, contribute unique expertise to team-based care, and help programmes expand access to care. The role of the Clinical Valve Coordinator is unevenly adopted in Europe. In this context, we outline a comprehensive framework of the competencies and professional development aligned with the needs of patients with aortic, mitral and tricuspid disease, discuss requirements for infrastructure and successful organisational integration in valvular heart disease teams and programmes, and propose preliminary indicators to measure role impact and address the current gap in evidence to guide role development across diverse regions. The Clinical Valve Coordinator plays a vital role as a central member of the multidisciplinary team to support the care requirements of people with complex valvular heart disease in the rapidly evolving clinical context of treatment options and management strategies. The document provides a roadmap for the development, implementation and evaluation of a pan-European initiative to improve the delivery of valvular heart disease services and optimise the experience of care of patients and their family.