Heart services receive funding for patients' mental health support

Image: Dr John Sharp

Heart services at NHS Golden Jubilee have been granted funding for an innovative mental health project to improve patients’ access to psychological care following life-saving treatment.

Consultant clinical psychologist Dr John Sharp, Head of Psychology at the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital in Clydebank, is exploring the delivery of psychological therapies using computerised cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to provide much-needed mental health support for patients receiving an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

The project is being funded for 1 year thanks to the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Healthcare Innovation Awards, which helps leading researchers to explore new and innovative approaches to improve the delivery of vital healthcare for heart patients.

An ICD is a small device which can treat people with dangerously abnormal heart rhythms by monitoring a patient’s heart rhythm and using electric shocks to restore the heart to a normal rhythm. These are incredible, and often life-saving, devices. However, up to 40 per cent of people living with an ICD report experiencing psychological distress, such as depression and anxiety.

The project will assess how the use of digital solutions can improve access to psychology and allow for remote delivery of psychological interventions for patients regardless of their geographical location in Scotland, and ultimately help widen access to mental health services across the UK.

Dr Sharp said: “We have been trying to increase the amount of technology available to our patients at the Golden Jubilee as there is a huge need for more psychological support within cardiac populations.

“This has become increasingly feasible in recent times through the advent of digital solutions such as Near Me and computerised cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) using a host of digital applications and devices including computers, tablets or smartphones.

 “We are in a good position to provide these therapies as Boards from across Scotland send patients to the Golden Jubilee University National Hospital to have heart devices implanted and then they have follow-up care in their regional areas.

“We know these devices are fantastic and life-saving, but they can also come with significant psychological issues, including really quite profound anxiety about the prospect for these devices ‘firing’*, or indeed not working at all.”

NHS Golden Jubilee is currently recruiting a psychologist for the role and, once in place, the service will begin, funded for an initial period of 1 year.

Dr Sharp added: “We will have a principal clinical psychologist and an assistant psychologist in post establishing pathways, which will also allow frontline staff to recognise the presence of psychological distress and give them tools to be able to deal with that.

“It will be a collaborative stepped care model, with a different intensity of intervention, matched to the severity of their condition.

“So we'll be able to follow those individual patients up and ensure that as part of their pathway and protocol that they are screened for the presence of any distress and have the option of accessing psychologist therapy as appropriate.”

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has awarded over £800,000 to fund 5 ambitious research projects at centres across the UK. As part of the BHF’s Healthcare Innovation Awards, leading researchers will explore new and innovative approaches to improve the delivery of vital healthcare for heart patients.

The Healthcare Innovation Fund supports visionary research that aims to explore how existing services and care for people with heart conditions across the UK could be transformed, ensuring those with heart conditions receive the very best care.

*‘Firing’: An ICD is placed under the skin, usually in the space just below the collar bone (clavicle) to monitor your heart rate. Thin wires connect the ICD to the heart, where it's always checking your heart rate and rhythm. It monitors your heart rhythm through the electrodes.

If an ICD notices a dangerous heart rhythm it can deliver one or more of the following treatments:

• Pacing– a series of low-voltage electrical impulses (paced beats) at a fast rate to try and correct the heart rhythm.
• Cardioversion– one or more small electric shocks to try and restore the heart to a normal rhythm.
• Defibrillation– one or more larger electric shocks to try and restore the heart to a normal rhythm (source: www.bhf.org.uk).

About the British Heart Foundation     

More information on BHF Healthcare Innovation Awards: https://www.bhf.org.uk/what-we-do/news-from-the-bhf/news-archive/2024/july/healthcare-innovation-awards-to-drive-transformative-improvements-for-heart-patients 

Applications for the next round of British Heart Foundation (BHF) Healthcare Innovation Funding Awards are open until June 2024, with a further round opening in September 2024. Find out more about how to apply here.

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