Background: Managing patients with coexisting heart failure and chronic peripheral oedema or lymphoedema presents clinical challenges, particularly regarding compression therapy. Aims: This evaluation assessed healthcare professionals’ roles, confidence, training needs and use of guidance in managing heart failure and chronic peripheral oedema or lymphoedema. Methods: A UK-wide service evaluation survey was completed by 342 healthcare professionals. Descriptive quantitative analysis was conducted. Results: Compression-related care was undertaken by 97% of lymphoedema practitioners and 91% of nurses, but only 3% of heart failure professionals. Over 90% of participants requested further training, with 59% of lymphoedema staff receiving education in the last 5 years, compared to 21% of heart failure specialists. Only 16% of heart failure staff had read key compression guidelines. Top education priorities included referral pathways (64%) and compression in heart failure. Multidisciplinary webinars were the most preferred format (66%). Conclusions: The findings highlight the need for integrated education, shared care models and better dissemination of compression guidance to support safe and effective care for this multimorbid population.
Cooper et al. (Fri,) studied this question.