Concerns over poor patient care in cardiac services
Posted: May 22, 2014
Posted in: Medical Negligence
Following a recent review by a panel of UK leading heart specialists, concerns have been raised about the “poor service patients are receiving”. The review was carried out across four district hospitals in mid and west Wales. It looked at the hospitals’ internal documents and carried out interviews of the health board’s staff, including cardiology consultants.
The Royal College of Physicians recently suggested the formation of a specialist cardiac “hub” at Glangwili Hospital in Carmarthen. This would mean the reduction of cardiac services at three other hospitals. After the report was published in March, the Health Minister Mark Drakeford said that the review “bears out many of the things I have said over the year I have been health minister – that we try to do too many things in too many parts of Wales.”
The four hospitals focused on in the review are Bronglais at Aberystwyth, Withybush at Haverfordwest, Glangwili at Carmarthen and Prince Philip at Llanellie. The report recommended the following steps:
- Focus of cardiology care centred at Glangwiili hospital – transferring A&E patients there “immediately”
- Strengthening of the specialist nursing teams at the bordering hospitals
- A recalculation of Withybush mortality figures
- The creation of an overall lead for cardiology as this role is currently vacant
With major concerns being raised by cardiologists about the standard of care being provided to patients, consultants feared that patients returning to hospital were not receiving adequate follow-up treatment. According to the Abertawe Bro Morgannwg Health Board, the most serious cases of this have been addressed.
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