Heart and lung centre opens

8 May 2008 12:07 PM Heart and lung patients from across the West of Scotland have access from today to unprecedented levels of specialist treatment and care, following the completed transfer of all adult heart and lung surgery to the Golden Jubilee National Hospital.

The West of Scotland Regional Heart and Lung Centre is one of the largest such units in the UK. It combines existing heart services at the Golden Jubilee with cardiothoracic (heart and lung) services from Glasgow's Western and Royal Infirmaries and thoracic (lung) services from Hairmyres Hospital in Lanarkshire.

Following the completion yesterday (Wednesday, May 7) of the move to the National Waiting Times Centre's Golden Jubilee National Hospital, the centre now provides all adult heart and lung surgery for the West of Scotland. This includes all bypasses, heart transplants, heart valve surgery and other complex procedures.

The centre will also provide a range of interventional cardiology services including angioplasty, angiography, electrophysiology and complex pacemakers. The new facility boasts a concentration of the region's top heart and lung specialists working together under one roof for the first time.

The West of Scotland Regional Heart and Lung Centre will also be home to three of the country's national services: the Scottish Advanced Heart Failure Service (including the Heart Transplant Unit), the Scottish Pulmonary Vascular Unit and the Scottish Adult Congenital Cardiac Service. These specialist services will treat patients from across Scotland.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing Nicola Sturgeon said:

"From today, heart and lung patients across the West of Scotland will be treated by the region's most experienced doctors and nurses working together on one site. Clinicians will share valuable experience, and create an unrivalled knowledge base.

"By bringing together highly specialised cardiothoracic investigations, surgery and treatment from four hospitals to this one site, patients can take advantage of a high-quality centre of excellence. It will also provide equal access for all patients in the West of Scotland."

In addition to offering a wide range of specialist services on a single site within a modern, purpose-built facility, the centre also provides a number of other benefits for patients:

* The potential to allow clinicians to specialise in more complex and diverse areas of work, due to the larger number of patients treated
* Access to £4 million of new equipment
* A concentration of research and development and academic activity potentially leading to innovation and improvements in patient care
* Ongoing service redesign to improve patient care and patient experience.

Ken Ferguson, Medical Director of the NHS National Waiting Times Centre, said:

"We have invested over £4 million in new equipment to ensure we continue to provide the best treatment and care to the 2.2 million patients across the West of Scotland who may need our services.

"Those needing surgery or intervention will have access to a range of facilities such as single inpatient en-suite rooms, seven new theatres, a new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner and new cardiac catheterisation laboratories. In addition, patients have access to a range of highly trained staff and a host of support services to ensure they continue to receive the best possible quality of care."

Jonathan Best, Director of Regional Services for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said:

"The new centre brings a wide range of specialist expertise together in a dedicated facility designed to meet their needs of patients from across the West of Scotland.

"The smooth transfer of services from four separate hospital sites is testament to the hard work, dedication and commitment of all the staff involved in taking forward the detailed plans for the new centre over the last few years."

Adrian Dalby, General Manager of NHS Lanarkshire's Surgical and Critical Care Division, oversaw the transfer process for Lanarkshire. He said:

"The move of NHS Lanarkshire's specialist thoracic surgical service to the Golden Jubilee Hospital was seamless.

"All the feedback we have received is positive and this is another step in our drive to improve and modernise the way in which our health services are provided."

The move has been completed on schedule, within budget and according to the planned timetable.

The transfer of clinical services from Glasgow began on March 3 this year when cardiothoracic surgery and interventional cardiology moved from the Western Infirmary.

Thoracic surgery from Hairmyres Hospital migrated on March 24 and cardiothoracic surgery from Glasgow Royal Infirmary on April 7.

The migration is now complete, with the move of interventional cardiology from Glasgow Royal Infirmary.

Related Information

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Health