Table 1.
Health Care Clinicians Who Took Part in the Interviews
| Staff Based in Primary Care | Staff Based in Specialty Care | Staff Based in Community Care |
|---|---|---|
| Location 1 (South West) | ||
| Two separate hospitals provide outpatient heart failure clinics; community specialist heart failure nurses see patients with heart failure of any type, but their capacity is limited. | ||
| General practitioner (P1) | Cardiologist (P8) | Specialist heart failure nurse (P20) |
| General practitioner (P2) | Geriatrician (P9) | |
| General practitioner (P3) | Hospital liaison psychiatrist (P10) | Community matron (P21) |
| General practitioner (interviewed twice) (P4) | ||
| Location 2 (South Central) | ||
| One hospital provides outpatient clinics with community specialist heart failure nurses seeing patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) only. | ||
| General practitioner (P5) | Cardiologist (P11) | Specialist heart failure nurses (interviewed together) (P22 and 23) |
| General practitioner (P6) | Specialist heart failure nurses (interviewed together) (P12 and 13) Heart failure specialist nurse (P14) Cardiac Rehabilitation managera (P15) |
|
| Location 3 (Midlands) | ||
| One hospital-based rapid access ambulatory heart failure clinic with ongoing care in the community from specialist heart failure nurses seeing patients with heart failure of any type. | ||
| General practitioner (P7) | Cardiologist (P16) Specialist heart failure nurses) (interviewed together) (P17 and 18) Cardiac rehabilitation practitioner (P19) |
Specialist heart failure nurse (P24) |
P = participant.
a
Cardiac rehabilitation is a structured set of services that can be offered to people with heart failure to provide physical and psychological help to preserve or resume their optimal functioning.