Concerned by year delay in heart-testing
EIGHT years ago my wife had an aortic valve replacement in another country. I was told by the cardiologist that she would need a heart test every year to verify that there is no valve deterioration over the years. Various figures are given for the valve lifetime, with 10 years being one, so we are alert.
Every February for the past four years she has received a letter reminder from the Cardiology Department at the Princess Elizabeth Hospital reminding her to visit for a test and assessment by a Guernsey-based cardiologist. This has been very professional.
This February the reminder invitation did not arrive so in May we visited the Cardiology Department at The Princess Elizabeth Hospital and were informed that they are running one year late in regular heart-testing.
We visited in June and they are still one year late.
About nine weeks ago I emailed the Guernsey Medical Committee and was informed that I would get feedback. Alas all is quiet.
We cannot be unique so that means there are heart patients all over the island sitting for a year waiting for such tests. At the same time there are heart resuscitators being installed at many locations – too late, mate.
Does anybody know what is happening? This is wide open to litigation should any patient pass away and the medical community all know there is an issue but are keeping quiet about the true cause or correction of such a massive delay.
REX FERBRACHE,
Address withheld.
Editor’s footnote: Medical director Dr Rabey replies:
‘Without any details regarding the individual concerned (at the time of sending for comment) it is very difficult to give a detailed response to this letter. As always in this sort of case, I would strongly suggest that, if they haven’t done so already, your reader contacts our Customer Care Team in the first instance, as they will be able to investigate this issue fully once they have all of the necessary information.
They can be contacted on tel. 725241.
There is high demand for cardiology services and appointments are prioritised according to urgency and need. Unfortunately, this does mean that sometimes people have to wait longer for less urgent appointments and investigations. As I do not know exactly what follow-up or investigations are required in this case (this can vary from a clinical review to more complex investigations, depending on previous findings) it is difficult to comment on the waiting time experienced. However, in the UK and Guernsey all patients who have had a valve replacement are seen at six weeks post-surgery by their consultant with a repeat heart scan. After that appointment, normal follow-up is carried out by a nurse (or junior doctor in the UK) and then every two years thereafter.
In Guernsey we are moving towards a nurse-led clinic for the follow-up of our patients at 12 months post valve surgery. The nurse training has started but will only be completed by mid-2019. A repeat echocardiogram is only done in stable patients (as per British Society of Echocardiography guidelines) after five years for mitral valve surgery and seven years for aortic surgery.
The great majority of cardiology appointments are seen within the contract waiting times, and urgent cases are prioritised. Patients will be seen by a consultant within two weeks of developing new symptoms of chest pain, breathlessness or dizziness. In the absence of such symptoms, the aim is to see the most stable patients every two years.
Where there are delays, HSC works closely with our colleagues at the MSG to put measures in place to bring these down as soon as possible. I can reassure your readers that neither HSC nor the MSG are keeping quiet about the true cause or correction of these delays and we are not putting patients’ lives at risk as suggested.
Having said all of this, these events have clearly caused additional worry to your correspondent. I am sorry for that, and encourage him to contact the Customer Care Team so that we can investigate further.