The purpose of this programme is to increase your knowledge, skills and confidence in supporting people living with heart failure through optimisation of the four pillars of treatment, taking a shared decision-making approach.
The Heart failure: Optimising the four pillars Optimise programme assumes you have some prior knowledge of the topic area. If you wish to revise your knowledge, you may find Unit 7 (Heart failure) of our Fundamentals of cardiovascular therapeutics e-course helpful as an optional learning resource. This e-course unit takes around two to three hours.
This workshop involves 20 minutes of preparation for each participant and a 40-minute group session. During the small group learning session, activities will allow learners to test their knowledge, debate controversial topics, make justified clinical decisions and practice communicating with patients and/or other healthcare professionals.
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After the workshop, consider your next steps:
Expert and programme contributor
Muhammad Khalid Lodhi, lead pharmacist cardiology and medicine, University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
CPPE programme developer
Rachel Murray, senior learning development pharmacist
Content contributors
Dr Fiona Carr, consultant geriatrician with a specialist interest in heart failure, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals
Trevor Fernandes, NHS patient and public voice partner and member of the National Co-production Advisory Group
Siri Gopalan, diabetes pharmacist, NHS Birmingham and Solihull ICB
Emily Hoodless, senior pharmacy technician, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Jen McCutcheon, early careers workforce lead, Thames Valley Integrated Care Board, and lead clinical pharmacist, South East Oxford Health Alliance Primary Care Network
Bilal Mukhtar, heart failure specialist pharmacist, North East London NHS Foundation Trust
Shannon Nickson, lead pharmacist primary care education (Midlands and East), CPPE and Heart failure education and research pharmacist, Heart Failure Academy
Ciara Richardson, education supervisor, CPPE
Ben Waters, lead cardiac pharmacist, Barts Health NHS Trust
Sarah Winsor, lead heart failure clinic nurse specialist, Leeds Teaching Hospitals
Reviewers
Joanne Bateman, consultant cardiology pharmacist and heart failure service lead, Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and lead pharmacist for cardiac network, Cheshire and Mersey Network
Josceline Williams, lead advanced practitioner with Droitwich, Ombersley & The Rurals Primary Care Network
CPPE reviewers
Emma Barnes, regional manager, West Midlands
Michelle Styles, regional manager, London
Piloted by
Diane Mitchell, lead education and training pharmacist for undergraduate teaching, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Kate Oates, lead education and training pharmacist for undergraduate teaching, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Anna Gorman, lead clinical pharmacist, Great Sutton Medical Centre, One Ellesmere Port Primary Care Network
CPPE editor
Lee Swettenham, web development editor
Disclaimer
We have developed this learning programme to support your practice in this topic area. We recommend that you use it in combination with other established reference sources. If you are using it significantly after the date of initial publication, then you should refer to current published evidence. CPPE does not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions.
External websites
CPPE is not responsible for the content of any non-CPPE websites mentioned in this programme or for the accuracy of any information to be found there.
All hyperlinks were accessed on 4 August 2026.
References
