Almanac 2013: heart failure

The National Heart Failure Audit continues to be an invaluable resource for understanding how acute heart failure is managed in England and Wales. The most recent report (1) describes just over 37 000 hospitalisations. As in previous publications, fewer than half the patients were managed in cardiology wards, yet those who were had a better outcome; half were referred at discharge to cardiologists for follow-up and they, too, had a better outcome. An innovation in the audit this time was the publication of hospital level analysis.