DORSET heart patients are benefiting from a drug hailed as the biggest breakthrough in 20 years thanks to a specialist heart care team.

The new heart failure unit at Royal Bournemouth Hospital, which was one of the first in the country to roll out the drug, began to prescribe the pill Entresto to patients with severe heart failure back in July and is already seeing its ground-breaking results.

A global study of 8,442 patients who took the drug, including 1,000 at British hospitals, found it reduced death rates by 20 per cent when compared with the current ‘gold standard’ heart failure treatment. It also reduced the risk of hospitalisation and decreased patients’ symptoms and physical limitations.

Heart failure is caused by the organ being unable to pump blood properly around the body, often after a heart attack.

Nearly 40 per cent of patients die within a year of developing the condition – a survival rate worse than many cancers.

However the drug works by altering hormone levels to make blood vessels dilate, taking pressure off the heart.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Chris Critoph, who heads up the team, said the drug will have a significant impact on the life expectancy of thousands.

He said: “It’s the biggest step forward in 20 years. As medical trials go, it’s as exciting as you can get in heart failure.

“The evidence is so overwhelming for the drug. It is extremely impressive and I think we should be offering the best drugs to our local patients. Cardiology here has always been forward-thinking.”

Dr Critoph, who formally worked at Barts Heart Centre at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in London, was appointed to head up the specialist team at RBH which includes two heart failure nurses.

He said the specialist unit, which is only one of approximately ten around the country, aims to be a ‘one stop shop’ for heart failure to improve outcomes for patients with heart problems.

He explained: “Dorset has a slightly higher prevalence than the rest of the country.

“If you cohort all patients with heart failure in one place, the nurses looking after them are more used to seeing those patients and those patients get a much better deal. By getting people on the right drugs earlier, their outcome greatly improves.

“It is well recognised if you have specialist services in one area, it is much better for the patient.

“If you are under a heart failure specialist, there are less deaths, people have less symptoms and go to hospital less as a result.

“I’m looking forward to seeing improvements in our data to see patients are on the right drugs, the right doses and they are getting the right referrals.”

The new unit was designed to give heart patients fast access to specialist care. Prior to the clinic’s opening, patients with heart problems needing urgent attention were admitted to the hospital’s emergency department or the acute medical unit, lengthening waiting times in those sections.

The trust, currently recommended by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to become the principal emergency care hospital for the county while Poole Hospital is transformed into a major planned care site, has hailed the team as a ‘crucial advancement’.

Dr Critoph, who runs regular clinics for patients suspected of having heart failure, hopes the unit will be able to coordinate care in the community to improve patient outcomes as well as avoid the need to travel for specialist treatment.

He added: “We want everyone to be aware both in the community and clinical setting that there’s a heart failure service here and we’re passionate about what we do.”