Cardiology patients at Harefield Hospital can now have an invasive procedure, recover in a comfortable chair and go home the same day, thanks to an innovative new 'lounge' developed by our specialists.
With limited beds available, planned procedures would sometimes be postponed to make room for emergencies arriving at Harefield’s busy heart attack centre – so the cardiology team challenged themselves to find a more efficient way to treat elective (non-urgent) patients.
The cardiology lounge provides a quiet, comfortable space, where patients relax in lounge chairs as they recover from their procedure in the cardiac catheter laboratories (cath labs).
This frees up beds for those who really need them and allows specialists to carry out straightforward procedures as day cases - with the patient often arriving in the morning and going home shortly after lunchtime. Patients have been enthusiastic about the new lounge, with 100 per cent of those surveyed after their visit saying they were "very satisfied" with the service.
The priority is keeping patients safe while improving their experience. They can now come in, have their procedure, recover in a nice comfortable environment and get home early in the evening.
Joseph Goff spent a day in the cardiology lounge recovering from his angioplasty procedure (where small tubes are guided into an artery near the heart to widen it and improve blood flow) and was pleased at the prospect of going home the same day.
He said: “I’m impressed. I came in for an investigation, but they saw that they could do something there and then, and they did, so I’m pleased about that. And sitting here is quite relaxing; I think you would feel more pressured in a ‘hospital’ arrangement, in a bed.”
The concept builds on the ‘radial lounge’ model used in some hospitals to provide same-day recovery for simple coronary procedures performed through the radial artery, a blood vessel in the wrist. But Harefield gives a much wider range of patients the opportunity to be treated as a day case: from those who have had a stent, to those having pacemakers or intra-cardiac defibrillators (small devices that regulate the heartbeat) fitted.
Dr Vasileios Panoulas, consultant interventional cardiologist and clinical lead for the project, explained the benefits this brings to patients: “The priority is keeping patients safe while improving their experience.
“They can now come in, have their procedure, recover in a nice comfortable environment and get home early in the evening. We have reduced our waiting times because this enables us to do more elective procedures. The success of this project is thanks to our staff, who have shown an unbelievable commitment and enthusiasm.”
While improving patient care is the top priority, the new lounge is already delivering efficiency savings, according to cath labs manager Sumesh Thiruthalil.
He said: “The only expenditure was buying reclining chairs, and we’re looking at more than half a million pounds of in-year savings."
“In the near future, we want to expand capacity and look at how we can schedule our patients so we can do both morning and afternoon procedures, enabling us to treat more patients, in less time than ever before.”
100 per cent of those surveyed after their visit said they were "very satisfied" with the service.
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