The report called for drugs to be made available

Heart failure, unlike a heart attack, happens when the heart gradually loses the ability to pump blood around the body efficiently.

It generally strikes elderly people, and is estimated to cost the NHS millions of pounds a year to treat.

This guideline is of major importance to patients and all working in primary care Dr Graham Archard, guideline co-author

The guidelines, released by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice), said that all heart failure patients should be considered for treatment using Ace inhibitors and beta-blockers.

At present, only a small proportion of patients currently receive these drugs.

Nice also recommended wider use of a blood test which can be used to diagnose heart failure.

Healthy advice

Doctors should also encourage patients with heart failure to take up regular exercise and quit smoking, it says, as well as making sure they are offered an annual flu jab and the single vaccination against pneumonia.

Professor Peter Littlejohns, Nice's clinical director, said the aim of the guidelines was to "improve the length and quality of life for people with heart failure".

Dr Roger Boyle, national director for heart disease, said: "Good quality systematic care for this condition is key to improving outcomes and quality of life for these patients and reducing the need for hospitalisation."

Growing problem

Approximately 900,000 people in the UK have heart failure, with almost as many with damaged hearts, but at the moment without any symptoms.

Access to key drugs to treat the condition, such as beta blockers, has so far been limited to a small percentage of patients.

Heart failure accounts for about 5% of emergency admission to hospital.

The guideline was produced in conjunction with the Royal College of Physicians, and Dr Graham Archard, one of the GP advisers who helped put it together, said he was pleased with the result.

He said: "This guideline is of major importance to patients and all working in primary care.

"Most patients who develop heart failure initially present to their general practice surgery and most patients with heart failure are cared for by their GP team.