The clinic keeps the heart beating - Golden Plains Times
HEART FAILURE is one of the top conditions that result in the most visits to the emergency department, including at Ballarat Health Services. BHS cardiac nurse practitioner Linda Macaulay said it was a “huge burden” in more ways than one. “Besides the burden of disease and people’s lack of quality of life, heart failure is also a huge burden on our health system,” he said. Aiming to reduce the readmission rate of heart failure patients in hospital, with evidence-based care, personalized care, and targeted treatment, BHS has its own heart failure clinic. “Re-admission rates are enormous, and not only for patients who are re-admitted with heart failure, but with various co-morbidities that impair the heart, such as diabetes, cognitive impairment, or respiratory disease,” Macaulay said. “Our clinic is running to provide consistent care for every patient at all times, because our patients we see are our friends, family members, relatives, work and schoolmates. “We care for people in our co