Arrhythmia care co-ordinators: Their impact on anxiety and depression, readmissions and health service costs

摘要

Background: In 2005, the UK Department of Health recommended that a new role, the arrhythmia care coordinator (ACC), be created to guide patients through the diagnosis and treatment for arrhythmia. The belief was that this would improve the efficiency of care and improve their quality of life. The British Heart Foundation provided funding for 32 such posts, all of which were filled by arrhythmia specialist nurses, and commissioned an evaluation of the new service to assess its impact on patients.