Our Impact
We work to prevent premature deaths from high cholesterol – a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes. We receive no government funding and rely on your donations to help fund our work.
At HEART UK, every day we strive to:
- Support everybody that contacts us for help and advice
- Campaign for patients to get a proper diagnosis and the best possible care
- Raise awareness of the risk of high cholesterol and Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH)
- Reduce premature deaths from high cholesterol a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes
Helpline
Our helpline provides impartial information and support to people who want to understand more about cholesterol.
In 2022/23 we supported 1,082 enquiries to our helpline:
- 100% of respondents said they were 'very likely' or 'likely' to make a change or take action thanks to our helpline's support
- 95% of helpline users rated our service as 'excellent' or 'good'
Healthcare Professionals
2022/23 was the second year of our Primary Care Education Programme 'Tackling Cholesterol Together'. Our educational webinars were viewed by 5,786 Healthcare Professionals:
- 92% reported being 'more' or 'much more' confident on these topics
- 92% said the programme would improve their patient care
- 93% said they would recommend our programme to their colleagues
- 89% would recommend our webinars to their healthcare professional colleagues
Literature
In 2022/23 we sent out 151,853 free booklets to healthcare professionals to pass onto their adult patients and 7,715 booklets for children and young people. An additional 30,789 materials were downloaded from our website.
We heard back that:
- 99% feel our literature is 'invaluable' or 'very helpful'
- 98% give our booklets to patients during a consultation
Providing reliable information for both healthcare professionals and the public is vital in ensuring that everyone can make informed choices about their care.
Engagement and Influence
HEART UK is constantly working to keep cholesterol and other blood fat conditions on the healthcare agenda.
This year, our advocacy included:
- Keeping the pressure on policymakers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cholesterol to be top health priorities in England and Scotland in particular
- Urging the UK National Screening Committee to roll out the child-parent screening programme for FH nationally following the extension of the NHS pilot in seven areas of England screening 10,000 children
- Contributing towards appropriate national consultations on new treatments and guidelines across the UK
National Cholesterol Month 2022
Our annual campaign to raise public awareness of cholesterol focused on 'Small changes = A big difference'. It achieved significant milestones for the charity this year by making people more aware that small improvements in their lifestyle (habit, diet, exercise and thinking) add up to improve long-term health. Our highlights include:
- 20,154 users visited our campaign webpage during October 2022
- We reached 600,268 individuals through our social media channels and e-news
- 18,000 users visited the UCLP menopause page with 1,900 downloading the healthy eating guide
- 56,270 of you signed up to our monthly e-newsletter, which includes free recipes, tips and news
How your donations can help:
- We support families and friends who have lost a loved one from high cholesterol and ensure they have the right information and help
- It costs £60 to enable someone to access support they need from our Cholesterol Helpline and give a free information pack
- We spend over £25,000 every year on printing information leaflets
- We run regular campaigns supporting patients and healthcare professionals
- Over 2.4 million people every year use our website for expert information about cholesterol
- Helping over 830,000 people every year with our online heart healthy recipes
- Over 300 world-class clinicians attend our annual scientific conference every year
- 96 pence in every £1 donated goes towards our charitable activities
A note from the Chief Executive
I am incredibly proud of what we have achieved again this past year in 2022/23. The HEART UK team has ensured that everyone within our cholesterol community could access the support they needed. We ran the second year of our Primary Care Education Programme in partnership with the NHS to Tackle Cholesterol Together and educate healthcare professionals across the UK to make early diagnosis and improve treatment and care.
Whilst we continue to deliver an increased need for support, we have also kept the pressure on policy makers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cholesterol to be top health priorities. 2022/23 has seen a first step towards the NHS’s long-term plan target to identify 25% of people with FH by 2024: a pilot child-parent screening programme for FH was started with the intention of testing 10,000 children over a two year period and we continue to lobby to keep a lifelong FH registry. Our achievements have only been possible with the involvement of our clinical collaborators, Trustees, Ambassadors, fundraisers and donors who we thank so much.
Jules Payne - Chief Executive
Watch our Impact Video which shows how our work brought about some significant changes to prevent premature disease and death from cholesterol and other blood fat conditions in 2021/22.