RNSystematic ReviewEuropean journal of cardiovascular nursing2026

What services are currently provided to people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction in the UK and what are their components? A systematic scoping review.

Faye Forsyth, Christi Deaton, Paul R Kalra and 7 others

PMID 40671601

WHAT IT FOUND

UK heart failure services for HFpEF often show some NICE alignment, but education, rehab referral and specialist nurse input are inconsistently described, and patients may be prioritized behind HFrEF.

Key findings

01Most full articles showed some evidence of complying with NICE heart failure team recommendations.

02All nine operational documents described nurse-led services and medication optimization.

03Referral to cardiac rehabilitation, older people's services and palliative care was the least concordant area with NICE recommendations.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

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What it does not show

Short abstracts and posters outnumbered full reports, so service descriptions are incomplete. Many included reports were retrospective audits, and confounding was often not documented. The review could not assess quality of care or outcomes, and services that contributed documents may not represent all UK services. The NICE concordance used a low threshold, so alignment may overstate actual delivery.

Declared interests

The supplied text lists funders, including the National Institute for Health and Care Research, Applied Research Collaboration, Wellcome Trust, National Institutes of Health, Evelyn Trust, AstraZeneca, Pharmacosmos and Boehringer Ingelheim, but does not state author conflicts.

The easy way to misread this

Do not read the reported NICE concordance as proof that care is high quality or effective. The review used a low threshold for concordance and did not assess what services actually delivered or patient outcomes.

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