Waiting times slashed for Lancashire cardiac patients

10:49am Sunday 13th April 2008

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A GROUND-breaking pilot scheme has slashed waiting times for East Lancashire cardiac patients.

The North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) and the Lancashire and South Cumbria Cardiac Network have been working together with clinical staff in hospitals across the area on the scheme.

A specialised cardiac transfer vehicle (CTV) is used to transfer patients requiring cardiac catheterisation to the Lancashire Cardiac Centre in Blackpool on the morning the proceedure is to be carried out.

It then returns patients to the referring hospital in Lancashire on the same day.

Catheterisation is where a very thin plastic catheter is passed into the chambers of the heart.

Between May 2007 and February 2008, the CTV was deployed and saved the NHS almost £500,000.

Previously, patients would have to wait for a bed to become available in Blackpool and in 2006 an audit showed that Lancashire and South Cumbria had the worst waits nationally.

The pilot initiative aimed to reduce the length of time patients had to wait to transfer, reduce the number of days patients spent in hospital, and confirm that the scheme is a safe method of delivering treatment.

In the 10 month period, a total of 1,544 bed days were saved, and the average length of stay in hospital for patients reduced from 15 days to seven days.

The CTV continues to operate while its worth is formally evaluated and recommendations regarding further expansion are considered.

The ambulance staff employed on the vehicle received extra training from cardiologists at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

"This is a clear example of what can be achieved when organisations from within the wider health community share knowledge and work together," said NWAS Area Director Derek Cartwright.