Plan to reduce heart patient wait times

Cardiologists around New Zealand are watching a pilot project at Waikato Hospital in the hope it will help reduce treatment times for acute coronary syndrome

The number of patients going to hospital emergency departments with symptoms of the syndrome which include chest pain nausea and sweating is rising nationwide putting pressure on bed availability laboratories and patient flow

A threeyear pilot project started last year and aimed at bringing treatment times for such patients to within 72 hours is being led by the Waikato District Health Board

Health Waikato chief operating officer and one of the projects leaders Jan Adams said it had been found that most patients with the syndrome would benefit from early intervention and treatment

And because of the ageing population the numbers are likely to grow so we really need to do something about it she said

Its a complex issue because theres issues around our cath labs because of the number we have the hours of operation and turnaround times

Waikato District Health Board has two catheterisation labs which process test results and outsources work to a third because of the demand

Mrs Adams said access to beds at Waikato Hospital was a problem because cardiology was an acute service with growing demand

So far the team have managed to get between 33 per cent and 59 per cent of patients treated within the 72hour timeframe

The lower figures took in the Christmas and New Year period when the number of patients rose dramatically because of reduced availability of GPs

Were averaging around 55 to 59 per cent Mrs Adams said

Senior cardiologists nationally set a target of 80 per cent but for now the project would aim for 70 per cent within the next 15 to 18 months then build up to 80 per cent because it doesnt just happen overnight

Date : 30 Mar, 2012
Reference : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10795474

Back to News