New Cath Lab Means One-stop Care for Heart Patients

Friday 13 January, 2017

New Cath Lab Means One-stop Care for Heart Patients

A new cardiology centre at Tauranga Hospital will provide care close to home in a one-stop-shop for heart patients.

The Cardiac Catheterisation Laboratory (Cath Lab) will take its first patient on the afternoon of Monday 16 January. The Cath Lab forms part of the Cardiac Services Building 50 development at the hospital which also includes a new clinical physiology area.

Angiograms (taking images of the arteries), an interventional cardiology programme (including ballooning and stenting of arteries), implantable devices (e.g. pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators - ICDs) and other cardiology procedures will all be provided at the facility.

“It’s a one-stop shop, with all the services co-located, which is so convenient from the patient’s perspective,” said Clinical Nurse Manager Jason Money. “The independent Cath Lab will also give us opportunity to expand these services in the coming years so we have enough capacity to provide for future growth.”

The new Cath Lab features state-of-the-art equipment including a $1.5 million Toshiba Infinix Cardiac Catheter Lab.

The move means greater convenience for patients, with the location of a number of services being streamlined. Previously these procedures required a combination of three departments: Cardiology, Medical Day Stay and Radiology. The new Cath Lab will operate as a standalone service.

“It’s a win-win,” said Jason. “Not only does it allow us to give care in one location, for our patients. It also allows us to free up resources for two other departments from the demands that our work was previously putting on them.

“Being focused on cardiac services in one location like this gives us greater opportunities to ensure that the care we provide to our patients is efficient and accessible, with less need for patients to move between departments. This is an exciting development. We’ve been planning for it for a few years, so it’s great to see it in place.”

The Cath Lab will continue to provide care for Whakatane Hospital patients.

The Cath Lab will be staffed by six nurses and an HCA assistant who will work alongside cardiologists, clinical physiologists and radiographers rotating through.

The Cardiac Services development containing the Cath Lab includes:

· A pre and post procedure day-stay with seven beds
· Three echocardiology rooms
· One echocardiology reporting room
· Three ECG (Electrocardiogram) rooms
· Respiratory Laboratory
· Exercise room
· Two cardiac implantable device service rooms

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