The number of people suffering from this debilitating condition is predicted to grow exponentially over the next decade. This has serious implications for the health services. Investigating heart failure is not cheap even where facilities exist. The drugs used, though effective often remarkably so are also costly as are laboratory investigations. These again are not cheap. People with heart failure require frequent admissions to hospital and occupy many beds and much staff attention. All of these factors are set to increase over the next decades.This eclectic collection of papers tackles many of the issues that concern those who care for individuals with heart failure; organisation of services, exercise, palliative care amongst them, but also novel and rarely discussed issues.