CAIRNS CARDIAC LAB REDUCES WAITING LISTS

Cairns Base Hospital’s Cardiac Catheter Laboratory has carried out more than 500 angiograms since January and reduced outpatient waiting lists from nine months to just two, Health Minister Stephen Robertson said today.

Mr Robertson said he was full of praise for the great work performed by the hospital’s cardiac investigations unit in improving cardiac services in Far North Queensland.

“The opening of the cath lab in January has helped the unit nearly double new patient throughput – from 499 new patients last year to 943 so far this year,” he said.

“In total, the Cardiac Investigations Unit has treated around 1,630 new and established patients so far this year, compared with just 1,089 for the whole of 2005.”

“As a result, we’ve been able to reduce the waiting lists for outpatients awaiting an angiogram from around nine months last year to just two months currently.”

“I would like to pay tribute to the Director of Cardiology Dr Prasad Challa and all his staff for this wonderful result over the past year.

“Next year, we expect to reduce the waiting lists even further as we continue to expand and improve cardiac services in Cairns.”

Dr Challa said there was no waiting list for inpatients needing an angiogram.

“If someone is admitted to hospital suffering from chest pains or with suspected heart problems, they are treated immediately,’’ he said.

Before the cath lab was officially opened, the angiography service had not been available at Cairns Base Hospital because of a lack either of specialists or of appropriate facilities.

Last year, public hospital patients requiring angiograms were treated by Dr Challa in the Cairns Private Hospital’s Cardiac Catheter Laboratory under a contract between Queensland Health and the private facility.

Dr Challa said the hospital was planning to expand services and cut waiting times further through a new lab with increased capacity and the recruitment of a second cardiologist.

“Once the new lab is operational and the second cardiologist is in place, we will be able to virtually double our angiography capacity from two operating lists over two days that I currently do myself to four lists over four days, shared with the new cardiologist,” he said.

The new Cardiac Catheter Laboratory is expected to cost about $2.4 million. Work is expected to start early next year and the lab should be in operation in the mid-year.

“But even with the current facilities, some procedures never before done in Cairns – such as angioplasty and stenting of kidney and pelvic blood vessels – are now being carried out regularly,” Dr Challa said.

“And in a first for Australia we’ve been performing angioplasty and stenting of abdominal blood vessels in the Cairns Base Hospital cath lab.”

Dr Challa also has pioneered the use, wherever possible, of the radial artery in the wrist rather than the more usual femoral artery in the groin for angiography procedures.

“The benefit of using the radial artery is the much faster recovery time for the patient. Currently, around 90 per cent of my procedures are done through the radial artery,’’ he said.

“When you use the radial artery, recovery time is one to two hours. When you go in through the femoral artery, you require four to five hours of recovery time.’’

Coronary angiography is a diagnostic procedure that involves the injection of a special dye into a patient’s coronary artery, either through the femoral or the radial arteries.

Once the dye is injected, medical imaging technology allows a specialist to determine whether there is any heart disease-causing build-up in the arteries and which arteries are affected, so that a course of treatment can be planned.

5 December,  2006

MEDIA:

Minister’s Office: Joshua Cooney 3234 1185 or 0409 069 056

Cairns Base Hospital: Jim Guthrie4050 8320 or 0405 108 512