NHS Highland is pleased to announce that the opening hours of the cardiac catheterisation laboratory in Raigmore Hospital have been extended to 24/7.
All patients experiencing a heart attack can now be rapidly diagnosed and treated with life-saving stents to unblock heart arteries at any time, day or night, at Raigmore Hospital. Previously, many patients in Highland needed to be transferred by ambulance out-of-hours to a cardiac catheterisation laboratory in Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Dr Jonathan Watt, NHS Highland’s Clinical Lead for Cardiology, said: “This will provide a major benefit to the health and wellbeing of patients with heart disease across the North of Scotland. Our clinical and management teams have worked hard to develop this new service and we are excited about its potential to reduce mortality, health care inequalities and logistical costs.
“We are delighted to have recruited two new interventional cardiology consultants to strengthen our team in NHS Highland, especially against a backdrop of consultant vacancies across the country.
“We have recruited specialist cardiac nursing, physiology and radiography colleagues to ensure that patients receive the most effective and safest treatment possible. I want to thank everyone involved in helping us to deliver this vital service, which will benefit patients in NHS Highland and its surrounding area for many years to come.”