ICARe-HF

ICARe-HF (Improving Care through Accreditation and Recognition in Heart Failure) is a European Society of Cardiology/Heart Failure Association international accreditation programme for centres that provide heart failure care. Individual centre performances in HF are evaluated against recognised standards of care as developed by the ESC guidelines and the HF Specialist Curriculum, and those centres meeting or exceeding these standards will be accredited as an HFA Quality of Care Centre (QCC).

Our team acted as test site for the UK, and are now an accredited Specialised QCC. I highly recommend applying – the benefits of accreditation are multi-fold and outlined below, but an immediate effect for our team was a significant boost in morale with recognition of the quality of the work that our multidisciplinary team members undertake striving for excellence in patient care.

The process itself is straightforward I have outlined the steps below in a simple format to ease the application process and understanding of the steps that are required.

How to apply?  

The institution HF lead completes the online application (link below), supplying details on staffing, procedural capabilities, SOPs on HF pathways and performance measures etc, CVs of all integral staff, and a letter of motivation. 

ICARe-HF - Recognising excellence in heart failure 

Finally, the application requires a letter of support from the British Society for Heart Failure, and this is facilitated through the regional leads, who will review the application and liaise with the BSH Chair (leads for each region outlined here): 

Northern Ireland: Edith Donnelly - edith.donnelly@southerntrust.hscni.net 

England: Rebecca Hyland - rebecca.hyland1@nhs.net 

Wales: Mandie Welch - Mandie.Welch@wales.nhs.uk 

Scotland: Leeanne Macklin - leeanne.macklin@nhs.scot 

What happens next? 

Once the completed application and letter of support from BSH are received, accreditation consists of two components: 

1. Pre-accreditation:  validation of the centre’s category based on structural criteria, including patient types, setting, accessibility, portfolio, equipment, and staffing.  

2. Data Collection: evaluation of performance and adherence to ESC Guidelines. This will be evaluated through mandatory participation in the GRASP-HF Snapshot Study, a repetitive snapshot with a yearly short enrolment period, to capture the relevant clinical information of patients with HF, including their acute episodes of decompensation.  

GRASP-HF: a heart failure snapshot study 

Benefit to your institution?  

The process of accreditation is about raising standards, meaning centres will continue to get feedback to identify gaps in education and research and will receive recommendations on how to bridge these. 

If accredited, HFA Quality of Care Centres will benefit from: 

  • Recognition of their quality of care at a European level 

  • Improved information for referral sources and patients on the categorisation of the centre 

  • Access to a network of HFA Accredited Centres in Europe 

“ICARe-HF is creating a ‘gold standard’ in heart failure services across the HFA’s network of National Heart Failure Societies and Working Groups in Europe. It will give centres status, attract new talent and may also act as a lever to access tools such as NTproBNP that may not currently be available. It could also persuade commissioners to invest where needed to improve patient care.” Dr. Lisa Anderson, St. George's, University of London and St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London.