The Challenge
Existing angiography service provision at St Peter’s hospital was predominantly for coronary angiography and pacing procedures, later expanding to offer angioplasty (PCI) electrophysical studies (EPS) and complex pacing procedures, as well as supporting the provision of an on-call vascular service. However, the service was unable to reach its full potential due to the way in which the unit was laid out across the hospital, meaning that the patient pathway was less than ideal.
The static catheterisation lab and existing relocatable unit were not in close proximity to the day ward and therefore the patient pathway was not streamlined. The day ward was located in a general medical ward and so it was not always guaranteed that the beds allocated to the cardiac suite would be available to elective day patients, sometimes resulting in patient cancellations on the day of their appointment. However, expanding the existing facility to enhance the pathway was difficult due to lack of space and funding.
The Results
The new unit incorporates:
2 labs housing Siemens Artis Zee ceiling and floor mounted systems to provide the best options for interventional and EP procedures, Pre – assessment room, Attached 10 bed day ward, 2 bed recovery area
The Trust provided:
Cardiac interventional and EP specialists, Cardiac physiologists
InHealth provided:
Nurses and radiographers, an administration team, a service manager, continuous support in the learning and development of staff by highly skilled cardiologists, clinical support from the InHealth cardiac clinical lead.
The InHealth Cardiac Unit has delivered 30% higher than average utilisation 12 minute faster than average turnaround 100% pPCI CTB 3 day median NSTEMI LOS 29 minute average pPCI DTB Waiting times of less than 4 weeks Patient cancellations reduced by 6% in 12 months Monitored daily and reported monthly KPIs 22% savings on stents 28% reduction in export cath costs
We have been working in partnership with InHealth for around 15 years since building our first cath lab. This is the next step and is centred around the patient, improving the care we deliver for the local community. A huge amount of work has gone into making this build a success and I’d like to thank them all.
