14 May 2025
​Islanders are now able to access potentially life-saving heart treatment more quickly
thanks to a new initiative that flags up if they need rapid care.
​And the pioneering work, which is being conducted by the Jersey Heart Team, is
feeding into a national project which will shape how heart failure is treated
worldwide in the future.
The new initiative – one of a number of projects in the Jersey Fighting Failure (JeFF)
programme –​ ​​involves a simple blood test and a new, automatic alert system.
​​If a clinician believes a patient may be at risk of heart failure, they can order a blood
test to see if the person has a high level of a particular protein – B-type natriuretic
peptide (BNP). An extremely high level of BNP is associated with heart failure.
​Under the new initiative, the Jersey Heart Team is automatically alerted if a patient in
the community or in the Hospital has an extremely high level of BNP. Previously, the
lab would send the results back to the GP or medic who ordered the test, and they
would then need to refer the patient to the heart team.
If a patient’s BNP level is found to be extremely high, they are invited for an
Echocardiogram – a cardiac ultrasound – and a review of their case. Under the new
scheme they are seen within 48 hours if they are in the community, or 24 hours, if
they are an inpatient.
​​Due to this intervention, patients are able to access vital treatment much sooner –
with most patients being prescribed medication immediately after their scan.
​​Gualberto Jardim is one of the patients who has already benefitted from the new
alert system. Thanks to his rapid treatment he has been able to return to work as a
plasterer.
“I’m very lucky,” he said. “I had very dangerous heart failure but because I was
prescribed some specific heart medication my dangerous condition improved rapidly
to almost normal health.”
Patients are tracked by the heart team to see if an early intervention helps with their
longer-term medical outcomes. The information collected by the team will be
analysed and then shared as part of the quality improvement projects under the
British Society of Heart Failure’s “25 in 25” initiative – which seeks to reduce heart
failure deaths by 25% in 25 years.
​Meanwhile, the blood sample process will be streamlined even further as a new piece
of kit – which can test someone’s blood for BNP in minutes from a finger prick – will
arrive in the Island shortly. The machine means that some blood tests will be
undertaken in the community rather than requiring a blood sample to be sent to the
Hospital’s pathology lab for analysis.
The news of the alert system comes a year after it was announced that Jersey had
been selected to take part in the “25 in 25” scheme.
Dr Brian Wang, Clinical Fellow in Cardiology, said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be
involved in the “25 in 25” initiative and amazing to see firsthand how patients are
already benefitting by being treated more quickly if elevated levels of BNP are
detected in their blood. The projects that we’re doing on the Island not only benefits
Jersey patients but also help to shape how heart failure will be treated globally in the
future.”
The Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Tom Binet, added: “This is
another piece of great news from the Jersey Heart Team. The team is not only
helping to save lives, but they are undertaking important research into heart failure.
Investing in preventative health care through initiatives such as early screening or
changes in lifestyle will help reduce the need for hospitalisations or emergency care.
This results in better outcomes for patients and will also help to bring down the costs
of running the Island’s health system."​
gov.je