Background: Heart failure is a frequent and advancing condition that significantly contributes to morbidity and mortality in the UK. Effective primary care management is critical for early diagnosis, optimal treatment, and suitable ongoing monitoring. This clinical audit aims to assess the quality of heart failure management within a primary care setting and its comparison to NICE guideline NG106 across the following domains: diagnostic confirmation, pharmacological treatment, specialist referrals and annual reviews with lifestyle advice.

Methods: A retrospective clinical audit was conducted at a single general practice in Tyldesley, Manchester. This involved 39 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of heart failure. Data was collected manually from electronic health records using a structured data extraction template. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse diagnostic practices, medication prescribing, lifestyle interventions and referral patterns.

Results: Echocardiogram data was available for 97% of patients with only 44% of BNP results documented. 55% of patients with HFrEF or HFmrEF were managed using full guideline recommended therapy. 90% of patients received annual review follow-ups which included lifestyle advice, with disparities relating to alcohol dependent counselling and weight management. Of the 39 patients included in the clinical audit only 56% of patients were referred to specialist heart failure services.

Conclusions: This audit acknowledged areas of strong guideline adherence, specifically in diagnostic and review domains. Suboptimal pharmacological management and sparse BNP testing were noted. Targeted interventions, medication optimisation, and consistency of referrals can contribute to effective heart failure primary care management.