Award winning service launched at County Hospital
An award winning cardiology service has been launched at County Hospital in Stafford, helping treat heart patients closer to home and avoiding an unnecessary stay in hospital.
The Cardiac Practitioners team, which was previously just based at Royal Stoke University Hospital, is now supporting County Hospital's A&E and Acute Medical Unit departments, providing a cardiology opinion for patients.
The team of experienced and specially trained, advanced cardiac practitioners already run Rapid Access Angina Clinics at County Hospital but will now be on hand to deliver a prompt decision-making service to patients arriving at A&E and those admitted to the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) with a wide array of cardiac symptoms.
In the past, patients attending A&E with suspected cardiac problems used to remain in hospital waiting to be seen by a specialist, via admission to the medical assessment unit or referred to a rapid access clinic if further investigation was required.
Patients presenting with a cardiac problem will be referred to the team, who undertake a thorough clinical assessment and formulate a management plan including diagnosis, initiation of appropriate treatment and/or arrange further cardiac investigations either as an outpatient or through direct admission.
The service is being phased in at County Hospital and will be available every day at County Hospital by September next year. The service allows prompt access to a specialist cardiology opinion, reducing patient admissions and reducing outpatient waiting lists.
As well as undertaking vital rapid assessment and management decisions about acutely ill patients, the team of advanced practitioner nurses can talk to patients who aren't admitted about their symptoms, offer reassurance, discuss lifestyle advice where necessary, refer patients for outpatient tests, arrange follow up and inform their GP of the plan directly via letter.
Team lead Dot Morgan-Smith said: "Our team have been offering an advice service over the phone and we have a direct number for consultant to consultant conversations about patients but now we are available at County Hospital we can make patient assessment's ourselves helping to prevent patients from having to transfer to Royal Stoke or having an unnecessary stay in hospital."
She added: "We are really pleased that we can now offer our service to the people of Stafford and surrounding areas at County Hospital and provide decision making at A&E and AMU, helping to treat people closer to home and potentially avoid being admitted to hospital."
The Cardiac Practitioners team won the British Heart Foundation Alliance Team of the Year in 2017 and also scooped the British Medical Journal Cardiology Team of the Year in the same year.