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 2023/24 we supported 1,463 enquiries to our helpline which is an increase of 35% on the previous year.
The most frequent enquiries were on cholesterol test results, medications and diet-specific food questions.
Example feedback: 'A comprehensive response to my queries. I sent through a number of questions and the response clearly showed that an awful lot of time had been taken to address my specific issues - not just generalised statements'.
Healthcare Professionals
In 2023/24 we had 4,544 Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) subscribed to our clinical e-news.
- 462 HCPs viewed our e-modules and rated their increase in confidence in treating their patients with high cholesterol from 2.92 to 4.12 out of 5
- 960 HCPs registered to attend our Diet and Lipid Network meetings - 92% of those who attended found these webinars useful and said they would be using the information they learnt in their clinical practice.
Literature
In 2023/24 we sent out:
- 247,983 free printed booklets to healthcare professionals to pass onto their adult patients - an increase of 63% on the previous year.
- 4,321 booklets for children and young people.
- An additional 27,833 materials were downloaded from our website.
We heard back that:
- 99.3% feel our literature is 'invaluable' or 'very helpful'.
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 work at national level included:
- Keeping the pressure on policymakers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cholesterol to be top health priorities in England and Scotland in particular.
- Launching the LP(a) taskforce call to action, including: Consistent testing across the UK, for LP(a) to be included in risk calculators and LP(a) to be featured in guidelines, in particular the NICE lipid guideline.
- We were involved in parliamentary events to promote three areas: Do prevention properly (both pre and post heart attack/stroke); ringfence prevention funding; and put the patient at the centre of everything.
National Cholesterol Month 2023
Our annual campaign to raise public awareness of cholesterol focused on 'Budget friendly heart health' including healthy eating affordably, ultra processed food and budget-friendly recipes.
- We had 28,927 page views to our campaign webpages during October 2023 which was an increase of 43% on the previous year.
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 £58.66 to enable someone to access the support they need from our Cholesterol Helpline on medical and dietary enquiries.
- We spend over £50,000 every year on printing information leaflets
- We run regular campaigns supporting patients and healthcare professionals
- Over 3.2 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 250 lipid specialist clinicians attend our annual scientific conference every year
- 93 pence in every £1 donated goes towards our charitable activities
A note from the Chief Executive
HEART UK has achieved another year of incredible impact in the areas of cholesterol and blood fats, helping more people than ever before and saving more lives.
Our mission is as important now as ever due to the impact of fewer health checks and increased waiting times post-pandemic. We aspired to ensure that cardiovascular disease was included in all parties's manifestos in the 2024 election. We continue to champion our cause with decision makers across all the four nations.
We've been able to increase our help to people with high cholesterol across our services with a 35% increase on enquiries to our specialist helpline compared to the year before. It's been a year of new developments, including launching our LP(a) call to action, ChangeMaker programme and new CRM database which has brought many efficiencies. None of this would have been possible without the involvement of all those who volunteer their time and support - clinical collaborators, Trustees, Ambassadors, fundraisers - and to our donors who provide vital funds. We thank you for everything you do to support HEART UK for people with high cholesterol and other blood fats.
Jules Payne - Chief Executive