Herts Heart Failure Masterclass for Primary Care
A half-day, case-based, face-to-face masterclass for GPs, nurses, pharmacists and advanced practitioners: the new NICE (2025) and ESC (2026) heart-failure guidance, the QOF HF009 four-pillar indicator and the NHS cardiovascular framework, taught as the workflow of a working primary-care heart-failure clinic — with Harefield cardiology, community heart-failure and lifestyle-medicine faculty.
Saturday 30 January 2027 · 09:00–14:30 · brunch included · programme published 15 September 2026 · for UK healthcare professionals only.
Heart failure care changed in 2025–26. Primary care is where it lands.
Two new guidelines, a new QOF indicator and a national framework have arrived within twelve months of each other. NICE updated its chronic heart failure guideline in September 2025 (four-pillar therapy first-line; new recommendations across the ejection-fraction spectrum; a clearer route for primary care to start advanced therapy with specialist advice). The ESC published a full new heart failure guideline in August 2026 and simplified the classification — a divergence from NICE that practices now have to reconcile when they code, prescribe and refer. QOF 2026/27 introduced HF009, which rewards all four pillars in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. The Department of Health and NHS England's cardiovascular modern service framework (July 2026) set the national trajectory. This masterclass turns all of it into a workflow you can run on Monday.
Five things you will do differently
Format. Short faculty talks are paired with two table-based workshops built around real (anonymised) Hertfordshire cases, and every delegate leaves with a two-page quick reference and learning-reflection handout for appraisal and for practical use in clinic.
Saturday 30 January 2027 — the programme
Half-day, case-based. Registration from 08:30; teaching 09:00–14:30 with brunch and exhibition at 11:20. Faculty confirmations are in progress and the programme may be refined nearer the date.
| Time | Session | Focus & faculty |
|---|---|---|
| 08:30–09:00 | Registration, coffee & exhibition open | Badge check on arrival — registered UK healthcare professionals only |
| 09:00–09:10 | Welcome & the case for change | Why 2026 is different: HF009, the CVD modern service framework and the NICE–ESC divergence. Prof Rajesh Varma |
| 09:10–09:40 | Session 1 · Heart failure in 2026 — diagnosis, classification & coding | The natriuretic-peptide pathway and its timeframes; ESC 2026 vs NICE 2025 classification; coding for HF008 and HF009; the local referral routes across Hertfordshire. Prof Rajesh Varma |
| 09:40–10:10 | Session 2 · Reading the echo report | Ejection fraction, diastolic function, valve disease and what to code; when to repeat imaging; what the report cannot tell you. Dr Aigul Baltabaeva, Harefield Hospital |
| 10:10–10:50 | Workshop 1 · From natriuretic peptide to diagnosis | Table cases: three referrals, three exits — rapid-access clinic, direct-access echo, community heart-failure team. All faculty at tables |
| 10:50–11:20 | Session 3 · Foundational therapy — and what comes next | The four pillars first-line; structured, rapid up-titration; newer options across the ejection-fraction spectrum; iron deficiency; when to seek specialist advice. Dr Rebecca Lane, Harefield Hospital |
| 11:20–12:05 | 🍽 Brunch & exhibition stands | 45 minutes · organiser-provided brunch · sponsor exhibition in a separate area |
| 12:05–12:35 | Session 4 · Community heart-failure care, escalation & advanced disease | What the community heart-failure service does and when to refer; escalation and virtual-ward routes; recognising advancing disease and palliative needs. Zoe Jayne, community heart-failure service |
| 12:35–13:05 | Session 5 · Who needs a device? CRT, ICD and the cardiomyopathies not to miss | Resynchronisation and defibrillator criteria by ejection fraction, QRS and symptom class; red flags for infiltrative and inherited cardiomyopathy. Harefield cardiology faculty — to be confirmed |
| 13:05–13:50 | Workshop 2 · The CVRM-HF optimisation clinic — finding and fixing beyond QOF | The searches, the clinic set-up, the safe-titration protocol and HF009 in practice, worked through on real anonymised cases. Prof Rajesh Varma with faculty |
| 13:50–14:15 | Session 6 · Let's not forget lifestyle | The multiple wider implications — cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic risk, medication adherence and what lifestyle medicine adds to heart-failure care. Dr Camille Hirons, British Society of Lifestyle Medicine |
| 14:15–14:30 | Plenary close | The NHS cardiovascular framework and its target; heart failure as part of CVRM; the lifestyle take-home message; certificates. Prof Rajesh Varma |
| 14:30 | Close | Departure by 14:30 — a deliberately compact day |
Booking opens on this page shortly, once the venue is confirmed. Places are limited to UK-registered healthcare professionals and confirmed after a registration check.
Primary care and secondary care, teaching together
Chaired and directed by Prof Rajesh Varma. Faculty confirmations are in progress; the roster will be finalised on this page.
Prof Rajesh Varma — Chair & Course Director
Professor of Primary Care; GP Partner and Trainer, Rickmansworth; former Consultant Obstetrician & Gynaecologist; NICE Guideline Committee member; runs a dedicated CVRM-HF optimisation clinic in general practice. Director, MD Acumen.
Dr Rebecca Lane — Heart failure cardiology
Consultant Cardiologist specialising in heart failure, Harefield Hospital (Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust). Foundational therapy, up-titration and the secondary-care interface.
Dr Aigul Baltabaeva — Echocardiography
Consultant Cardiologist and Clinical Lead in Echocardiography, Harefield Hospital. Reading the echo report for primary care.
Zoe Jayne — Community heart-failure care
Community heart-failure service, Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (West Hertfordshire). Community management, escalation and advanced disease.
Dr Camille Hirons — Lifestyle medicine
NHS GP; Vice President, British Society of Lifestyle Medicine; founder of the Lifestyle Medicine Accelerator. Let's not forget lifestyle.
Device therapy & cardiomyopathy — to be confirmed
Harefield Hospital cardiology faculty for the CRT/ICD and cardiomyopathy session will be announced here.
Who it is for, CPD, venue and independence
Who it's for
GPs and GP trainees, practice and community nurses, heart-failure nurses, PCN and practice pharmacists, advanced clinical practitioners and physician associates — from Hertfordshire and neighbouring areas. Secondary-care colleagues are welcome. Open to UK-registered healthcare professionals only.
CPD & certification
5 UK CPD points — about 4¾ hours of educational contact. GPs self-certify credits (one hour of learning is one credit, more where impact on practice is shown). Every delegate receives a Certificate of Professional Learning Activity stating hours and participatory learning, suitable for NMC and GPhC revalidation records.
Venue & travel
Venue: 610 The Avenue, Centennial Avenue, Elstree WD6 3TJ — the events venue adjacent to Village Hotel London Watford (to be confirmed). Dedicated on-site parking, free for meeting delegates; just off junction 4 of the M1, with the M25 and A1 minutes away; Elstree & Borehamwood station (Thameslink, around 25 minutes from London St Pancras) is about two miles away and Edgware (Northern line) about two and a half. Joining instructions are issued about 14 days before the event.
Independence & sponsorship
Organised by MD Acumen Ltd. The meeting will be supported by exhibition-stand sponsorship from pharmaceutical and medical-device companies, to be named here and in all meeting materials once agreements are signed. Sponsors have no input into the programme, speakers or content; the exhibition is held in a separate area and brunch is provided by the organiser, in line with the ABPI Code of Practice. See the Sponsor Disclosure Register.
Is a Saturday realistic with PCN Enhanced Access rotas?
We have chosen a compact 09:00–14:30 format and are notifying PCN clinical directors early so that rota leads can plan around the date. Booking opens shortly; putting the date in the practice diary now helps rota leads release you.
What should I do before the day?
Nothing is required. If you wish to arrive primed, the free DCRM micro-course covers the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic ground on which the day builds, and a short pre-reading note will be sent with the joining instructions.
Will the slides and handout be available afterwards?
Yes. The two-page quick reference and a web version of the teaching slides with self-test questions will be published on this site after the meeting, in the same format as our Micro Learning notes.
Keep learning
The masterclass sits alongside MD Acumen's free micro-courses and the full-day Primary Care Masterclass series.
Micro Learning · CAS Programmes · Legal & Regulatory · enquiry@mdacumen.com