It's been a busy few weeks for CHFT's Arrhythmia Team. They have recently hosted a support group for patients and have also presented an academic poster at a national congress. 

Last month they hosted an Atrial Fibrillation (AF) support group, which focused on providing emotional support, sharing experiences and helping to educate those in attendance. 

It was held at Laund Hill Community Club and was well attended by patients and their relatives. There was a short presentation given by Arrhythmia and Complex Cardiac Device Nurse, Sarah Clegg, and a question and answer session afterwards with our colleagues.

The support group was organised by Sarah, who was also joined by Lead Arrhythmia Nurse, Layla Farrar, Lead Consultant Cardiologist, Karthik Viswanathan, and Lead Admin Assistant, Heather Parkinson. The support group is due to run every six months. 

Feedback was positive, with one attendee saying: “I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting. It was informative, reassuring, and interesting.” 

Sarah said: “The support group was a huge success and great to be able to support our AF patients and relatives, in a more social and comfortable setting rather than the hospital. We are looking forward to the next group.”

The Team were also invited to present a poster at the national Heart Rhythm Congress on their unique nurse-led pathway for patients on antiarrhythmic medication for atrial fibrillation.

The poster shows how the pathway - which is unique because it is led by nurses and not consultants - was both safe and effective in terms of medium-term patient outcomes.

Huge thanks from the team to Tim Woodhead (Leeds Teaching Hospitals) for all his hard work in collating the data.