A funding bid supported by Health Innovation West Midlands has succeeded in securing major investment in an innovation to help patients with heart failure.

It will enable the development of an innovative tool to help healthcare professionals make informed medication decisions for heart failure patients, at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.

The tool uses key patient data, including blood pressure, heart rate, weight, and potential side effects, to generate personalised medication recommendations. The long-term vision is to turn the tool into a user-friendly smartphone app, named ‘Apptitrator,’ which will empower patients to manage their symptoms and receive better personalised care.

The app has massive potential as more than one million people in the UK have heart failure. Over half of these people have reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), a condition where the heart’s pumping ability is below normal and could lead to cardiac arrest.

The bid was submitted to the British Heart Foundation (BHF) Healthcare Innovation Fund by Consultant Cardiologist Dr Michael Kuehl and the Innovation Team at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire.

It was one of 10 bid submissions to the BHF fund made by West Midlands trusts with the support of Health Innovation West Midlands – and one of only four nationally to be successful.

BHF’s Healthcare Innovation Awards aim to help clinicians explore new and innovative ways to improve healthcare for heart patients.

Dr Kuehl said: “I am grateful to HIWM for their support not only in preparation for the bid, but also as a member of the steering committee as part of this exciting project. Developing a software that can help with the uptitration of medications for patients with heart failure will help not only patients but should also support primary and secondary care in the long run.

“The clinical roll out of this product is still a few years away, but we are confident that with the support of HIWM we can develop an innovative healthcare application.”

The innovation aims to improve access to evidence-based therapies for heart failure patients, which will support the Health Innovation Network’s national heart failure programme.

Emily Lucas, Innovation Facilitator at UHCW Innovation Hub said: “We value our partnership with HIWM and their involvement in our innovation projects. Their input was key to the funding bid’s success, and we’re excited to leverage their expertise for the project’s ongoing development.”

Philippa Richards, of Health Innovation West Midlands said: “We are delighted that this pioneering innovation has succeeded in securing investment and we look forward to continuing to support its further development – with the hope to spread and scale the innovation not only regionally, but nationally through the Health Innovation Network.”

Health Innovation West Midlands will be providing Human Factors expertise and project management support.

Read more about the project here: https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/news/innovation-award-boost-for-uhcw-heart-failure-app-project/

If you are an innovator looking for support with bid applications please email the team at discovery@healthinnovationwm.org.

Photo caption: Dr Michael Kuehl, cardiology consultant, with Emily Lucas, Innovation Facilitator at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.