The 25in25 initiative: A novel transformative project to reduce mortality due to heart failure by 25% in the next 25 years

We are at a crucial point in time for those with cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure (HF).

An estimated 64.3 million people are living with HF worldwide.¹ In developed countries, the prevalence of diagnosed HF is estimated at 1–2% of the adult population,^{2, 3} and with factors such as our expanding ageing population, figures are set to double by 2040 (Figure 1).

Heart failure is a final common pathway for almost all cardiovascular diseases, but also a significant cause of mortality across the wider cardio-renal-metabolic spectrum. Over 90% of those who are diagnosed with HF are living with at least one other long-term condition⁴ such as diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and depression. From epidemiology to pathophysiology, there is a large multi-specialty and multi-disciplinary overlap.

Diagnosing HF, however, remains a challenge. Eighty per cent of patients receive their diagnosis during an emergency admission.⁵ This is even though up to 40% of these patients had symptoms many months prior to that admission which should have triggered an earlier assessment.⁵ Delayed diagnosis has a significant impact on mortality and spending. One in three of these patients do not survive up to 1 year and inpatient costs are a significant driver of expenditure for HF care, which itself accounts for almost 2% (€2.3 billion) of the entire National Health Service (NHS) budget.⁶

Many patients with HF remain undetected and undiagnosed. In the UK alone, it is estimated that around 400 000 people who have HF remain without a documented diagnosis. These patients are disproportionately at risk of socioeconomic deprivation and associated worse outcomes, including more frequent exacerbations, repeated hospital admissions and increased HF mortality.⁷ The undetected and undiagnosed are deprived of life-preserving HF treatments. The human and economic costs are huge. It is time for action.

The primary aim of the 25in25 initiative is to reduce HF mortality in the first year after diagnosis by 25% in the next 25 years. This equates to five fewer deaths for every 100 patients newly diagnosed with HF every year, translating to over 10 000 lives saved annually.

Secondary aims include: (i) the development of a robust ambulatory HF database from a community focal point, with dynamic data modelling and the opportunity for future research; (ii) to educate, encourage and facilitate engagement from the broader spectrum of clinicians in specialties intersecting with HF care to make every contact count; and (iii) to make HF a national priority by influencing thought leaders, policymakers, and politicians to prioritize HF.

The British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) recognized the internationally shared concern of increasing HF caseload and realized that as a specialty, we are under resourced and therefore less able to face the growing unmet need of HF care, alone. Spearheaded by the BSH a Summit was called in March 2023, to bring together ~60 organizations (online supplementary Appendix S1) across a broad spectrum of specialties that intersect with HF care, including clinicians, patients and policy groups. These selected organizations brought specialist knowledge and expertise to the discussion, which ended with signing the ‘25in25 declaration’—to change the trajectory of HF and become part of the 25in25 Collaborative (Figure 2).

The 25in25 Collaborative agreed to implement/test a Fast-Track Communities (FTC) approach, successfully deployed for HIV as the model for implementation.⁸

Risk identification (prevention), early diagnosis, early treatment and patient empowerment (such as quality of life (QOL)/mental health and wellbeing measures) were agreed as priority areas for data collection and indicators to prevent avoidable deaths due to HF. As a result of the Summit, the Collaborative finalized a roadmap to guide implementation and the 25in25 initiative was launched as a novel transformative quality improvement project to reduce mortality due to HF by 25% in the next 25 years.

The 25in25 implementation programme targets this significant public health issue with a long-term strategy: lowering the 1-year mortality rate following a HF diagnosis by 25% within 25 years by identifying the key areas of improvement across a locality and community. By risk factor identification (prevention), early detection, diagnosis, treatment, and improving QOL, the focus is on developing collaborative solutions to methodically prioritize and address them.

The 25in25 pilot programme, which relies on systematic case-finding of currently undetected HF, is underway in five locations across the UK. Data are being collected through specified searches from patient records on general practitioner systems aligned to a national strategy of reducing mortality and morbidity. Local system searches will identify citizens that need intervention or monitoring across the community, with aggregated, anonymized data uploaded and benchmarked on a national platform to observe the national picture.

The extracts of data collected will be analysed locally and potential areas for quality improvement identified. Solutions will be developed and supported across the community, involving all stakeholders across care settings providing holistic support, including social and community advocates. Benchmarked data would be utilized to monitor impact over time and enhance HF management.

By focusing on prevention, early detection, accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and empowering not just the clinicians but citizens and communities, the 25in25 initiative will transform population health outcomes related to HF and its comorbidities and reduce the burden on the health service. The initiative underscores the importance of a collaborative, community-based approach to tackling HF, ensuring that health improvements start within the communities and extend to a national scale.

We have started work with pilot sites regarding data collection and intelligence needed to build the dashboard. Early analysis to identify potential areas for quality improvement has begun as a dynamic process for change. Solutions will be developed and supported across the community and benchmarked data would be utilized to monitor impact over time and enhance HF management.

Furthermore, we are establishing engagement strategies with health and care boards and local health authorities to support these pilot programmes. And we intend to create cross-stakeholder agreements in these pilot sites, on priority factors to address future challenges in cardiovascular outcomes.

The 25in25 initiative will support informed care and improved outcomes in patients with long-term conditions leading to HF, and address health inequalities by tackling disparities of access, experience, and outcomes in under-served patient groups.

By focusing on prevention, early detection, accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment and empowering citizens and communities, the 25in25 initiative aims to significantly improve population health outcomes related to HF and reduce the burden on health services. The initiative underscores the importance of a collaborative, community-based approach and locally designed solutions, ensuring that health improvements start within the communities and trends observed nationally.

The 25in25 initiative will leverage its reach, infrastructure, and human capacity to build a more equitable, inclusive, prosperous, and sustainable future for all those in danger of premature mortality from HF, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, and social and economic circumstances.

We believe that this strategy is viable, cost-effective and has a transferrable methodology to improve the care of patients with HF across diverse healthcare systems.

Conflict of interest: none declared.