British hospitals introduce treatment for heart failure that cuts deaths by 62%

The findings of the global Strong-HF trial ‘will save many lives’, said Matthew Sunter, the lead heart failure nurse at St George’s hospital, London. Photograph: Dmitrii Dikushin/Alamy

People in Britain with heart failure are being given larger doses of drugs at the start of their treatment after a global study found that this led to a huge fall in deaths.

Experts say the new approach could mean those with the potentially fatal condition start receiving their ideal amount of medication within two weeks of diagnosis rather than after many months.