Round the clock heart attack care to save lives

LIFE-SAVING care for heart attack patients is being made available seven days a week, 24 hours a day at Worcestershire Royal Hospital. This week saw the launch of a round-the-clock Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) service which will provide potentially lifesaving treatment for up to 250 extra patients per year.

Primary angioplasty is a procedure used to open the narrowed or blocked coronary arteries of the heart immediately after the most serious type of heart attack is diagnosed. The process involves a catheter being inserted directly into an artery in the leg and a balloon inflated in the blocked artery. The balloon expands the artery and a stent is inserted.

The procedure is believed to be the most effective in treating heart attack patients but up until Monday (October 1) it had only been available to patients in Worcester on a weekday from 9am to 5pm.

Philip Salter, 62, from Worcester, was treated in the A&E department at Worcestershire Royal Hospital following a heart attack last September but was then taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham to continue his treatment.

Philip said: “I was astounded by the level of care I received by all the staff, there was always someone there for reassurance. I would say the care I received was excellent – and you can’t get much better than that. I really can’t thank them enough.

“It was decided that the best course of action for me at the time was to be transported from Worcestershire Royal Hospital to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. These developments allowing a 24/7 service under one roof would save on any extra travelling time during treatment, it would also be easier for your friends and family to visit you if you were still closer to home.”

Dr Jasper Trevelyan, Consultant Cardiologist at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted that plans are progressing to enable this lifesaving service to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week from October. It is wonderful that such an important treatment is now available locally to all patients in Worcestershire and Herefordshire”

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