Western NSW is set to benefit from an extension hours in cardiac care.
Orange Health Service are offering five day a week cardiac care. The announcement came on Wednesday.
The extra day of operation, including an extra four full-time beds and 7.2 full time equivalent staff to man the wards and the lab, will cost an extra $1,260,000 a year.
The lab can be used to treat blockages and diagnose conditions, meaning more patients across the Western NSW Local Health District will be treated closer to home after the change and shorter hospital stays are also expected.
Orange Health Service general manager Catherine Nowlan said it was the states first full-time rural and regional cath lab, and the only lab in the district.
“Weve had increased clinical demand, which has informed the decision-making,” she said.
“[Previously], officially opened and staffed was four days, but clearly, and youve heard today we have a patient coming from Dubbo, we would have to respond to that demand – we are opening the lab today, reactionary.”
The biggest problem for us is, how do we get the one third of patients whose arteries are not going to open, how we get them very quickly to somewhere that can be done for them?
Dr Ruth Arnold
She said opening the lab on a reactionary basis in the past had drawn on on-call staff.
“Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death for women in this district [and] its the second-leading cause of death for men in this district so this is about improving the health status of the population we serve,” she said
About seven patients a day are able to access the lab, in addition to a 24/7 callback service to help other hospitals treat their cardiac patients.
The state government has also provided $352,766 for a cardiology research project based in Orange.
Dr Ruth Arnold will lead the project during the next two years, which will look into how cardiac patients can be transferred more efficiently for treatment.
Patients with complete blockages have a 14 per cent higher mortality rate compared to urban patients and Dr Arnold said a third of heart attack patients did not respond to medication from paramedics to open their arteries.
“The biggest problem for us is, how do we get the one third of patients whose arteries are not going to open, how we get them very quickly to somewhere that can be done for them?” she said.
A research nurse will be employed to look into the Western LHDs records, with results expected by July 2021.
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