Teamwork and careful planning has lead to a
dramatic reduction in waiting times for outpatient angiograms at Christchurch
Hospital.
After the September 4 earthquake the number of
people waiting for an outpatient angiogram jumped to 303 – a 102 percent
increase.
Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB)
Cardiologist David Smyth said the cardiology team has since developed a detailed
plan with CDHB’s planning and Funding department to address the big increase in
need.
A contract was arranged with St George’s
Hospital, where CDHB Cardiologist Dr Sally Aldous, began carrying out extra
procedures.
Numbers had since significantly reduced to just
55 patients waiting with 51 of these booked to have the procedure in the next
few weeks.
“Since January we’ve gone from having about 168
patients waiting more than six months for an angiogram, to just one patients
waiting longer than six months,” Dr Smyth says.
“It is hoped to improve this target further to
have no patients waiting more than 29 days by the end of this month.”
An angiogram is a procedure where dye is
injected in a person’s arteries and viewed on an x-ray called an angiogram to
determine where arteries may be blocked.
If there are any blockages a patient may need to
have a further procedure to restore blood flow to their heart.