This week we’re celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the opening of the Cardiology Day Case Unit at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby.
The first patient attended the unit on 3 August 2015, but the official opening was 22 October 2015. The £2.48million unit brought together all outpatient and day case cardiology services together in one place. It also saw the creation of a dedicated cardiac catheterisation laboratory allowing clinicians to provide a greater range of more sophisticated services for local people.
Over the last decade the Cath lab alone has treated over 12,646 patients. Procedures carried out in the lab include pacemakers (an implanted device to regulate irregular heart rate), angiograms (imaging test), cardioversion (where electric shock is used to restore heart rhythm) and loop recorders (an implantable device that monitors heart rhythm). In 2019 the team also introduced Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) – a non-surgical procedure used to treat blockages in coronary arteries.
Back in 2015, it was the family of Ron Kitching, founder of the Big Red Heart Appeal, who cut the ribbon at the opening ceremony and his wife, daughter and two granddaughters came along to mark the occasion. Sadly Ron passed away in 2013 so never got to see the unit which he had tirelessly fundraised for open, but he was there to dig the first foundations in preparation.
Gemma Sugden, Matron for Cardiovascular Services, spoke at the event. She said: “It was great to see former staff come to join in the celebrations. Having Ron’s family here was really special as I know he did a lot of fundraising along with Dr Bain, who set the service up. Amongst the team we have today we have something like 400 years of cardiology experience and to date we’ve had 12,646 patients that we’ve treated which is amazing. It’s honestly one of the best places to work in the hospital.”
Staff at the time took part in sky dives charity nights and bike rides to help raise funds to make the new unit a reality and an incredible £80,000 was donated by the Big Red Heart Appeal.
Ron’s Granddaughter Lynsey, former director of the charity, said: “He would be beyond ecstatic if he could see the result of all those years of hard work and relentless fundraising. It’s so fitting this is a Cardiology unit as everything he did came from the heart, he would be so pleased.”
Wendy Magee, Nursing Director for Cardiovascular services, said: “The unit was and continues to be a fantastic facility for the people of Grimsby and surrounding areas. I’m incredibly proud of the team; they get amazing feedback and go above and beyond for patients.”
Our staff continue to innovate and bring forward new techniques and treatments to improve the care for cardiology patients. For example, last Summer staff undertook training to perform Conduction System Pacing. It’s a relatively new technique that involves placing the pacing lead in a different position which has better physiological outputs for patients.
A big thank you to the Trust charity The Health Tree Foundation who provided treats for the celebration.
Watch a video of the celebration:
