Official opening for third heart treatment suite
The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is tomorrow celebrating the official opening of its third coronary angiography suite for the treatment of heart attacks.
The hospital trust has invested £3.1 million in a state-of-the-art third angiography suite for use in coronary angiography, balloon and stent treatment (PCI or percutaneous intervention), pacemakers including the type of pacemakers that can deliver life saving shocks to the heart (ICD).
In April last year a new Heart Attack Centre at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital launched to treat patients with Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PPCI) within just two hours of their heart attack.
Giving patients PPCI, also known as primary angioplasty, restores blood flow to the heart by inserting and inflating a small balloon in the blocked artery. The treatment saves more lives if the procedure is carried out within hours. Once the balloon is inflated a rigid “stent” (tube) is often put in place to open up the artery allowing blood to flow freely.
The Norfolk Heart Attack Centre offers the treatment 24 hours a day, seven days a week, cover the Norfolk population and parts of north Suffolk. The Lord-Lieutenant of Norfolk, Richard Jewson, will perform the official opening of Angio 3 at 6pm on November 4. The construction work was undertaken by John Youngs Ltd.
The new angio suite has also been designed to be suitable for electrophysiology and ablation. The NHS currently provide this treatment at Papworth but the consultant cardiologists at NNUH are aiming to provide this service in Norwich for local people that they want to raise the funds to provide the equipment for EP and ablation.
The Norfolk Heart Trust (NHT) is supporting the appeal to raise £400,000 for a local Electrophysiology service and has already donated £100,000. The NHT raised £1million (Balloons4Hearts) so that PCI (angioplasty and stenting) could occur at NNUH.
The Geoffrey Watling Charity have donated £50,000 (they also very generously gave £200,000 to the Balloons4Heart appeal some years ago) following an application for funding by Dr Leisa Freeman, Clinical Director, Cardiology, NNUH.
- http://www.norfolkhearttrust.co.uk/donate.asp