A HOSPITAL health unit visited by more than 1,000 heart patients a year has re-opened following a £1 million plus investment.
The money has paid for new specialised cardio-vascular imaging equipment and a full refurbishment of the cardiac catheter lab theatre suite at The Morecambe Bay Cardiac Centre at Westmorland General Hospital, Kendal.
Pearse Butler, the chairman of the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) cut a ribbon to declare the centre open.
More than 50 guests, staff and directors enjoyed speeches from Alison Capps-Nevett, Lead Radiographer for the Morecambe Bay Cardiac Centre and Dr Adrian Brodison, Clinical Lead Cardiologist.
The centre offers services and procedures such as:
L Diagnostic Coronary Angiography, which involves taking a specialised x-ray to diagnose conditions such as coronary artery disease which causes angina and as an assessment of valvular heart disease angina
L The fitting of permanent pacemaker implants and pacemaker generator changes
L Implantation of Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy pacemakers (CRT-p/ Bi-Ventricular pacemakers) to support a number of patients with chronic cardiac conditions
Work started on the centre on March 17 when patient admissions temporarily relocated to Ward 2 at WGH with cardiac procedures performed in a mobile cardiac catheter lab near the Dunmail entrance.
Alison Capps-Nevett, Clinical Project Lead for the refurbishment project which opened ahead of schedule, said: “The newly installed x-ray system is one of a new generation of cardio-vascular imaging suites which provides exceptionally high quality images of the heart with the ground breaking benefit of a considerably reduced radiation dose per procedure.
"This is an advance of great significance for both our patients and the cath lab team. We take enormous pride in the quality of specialist care provided by our dedicated team, and this investment will further enhance the patient experience, providing assurance that the cardiac catheter lab theatre suite here at UHMBT is, quite simply, of the highest specification and standard currently available.”
The number of cardiology consultants has increased at the Trust since 2004 from two to six.
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