Essex heart and lung patients to benefit from £2.3 million care boost
The world-renowned Essex Cardiothoracic Centre (CTC) has received £2.3 million in national funding to support increasing the numbers of patients it can see.
The money will be used to create a new cardiac catheter (cath) lab within existing empty space in the CTC, which is based at Basildon Hospital, and is expected to open in the spring. It will increase the numbers of patients able to receive specialist cardiology procedures, including implanting stents and new heart valves via catheter.
This new cath lab will also free up theatre space to increase lung cancer surgery numbers by a third and allow more patients to access specialist treatments more quickly.
Michael Catling, Deputy Director of Operations for the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre and Mid and South Essex Cardiology, said: “This new facility is key to ensuring that Essex patients can continue to benefit from local access to the latest innovations in cardiology. The increased theatre capacity will allow us to better meet growing demand for lung cancer treatment and surgical diagnostic procedures arising from the roll out of local screening services and earlier detection.
“These improvements, coupled with upgrades to our existing cath labs and use of pioneering technologies, give our excellent clinical teams the tools they need to offer the newest techniques and best care for our patients.”
The CTC, which is part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, has provided specialist diagnosis and treatment for people with cardiovascular (heart) and respiratory (lung) diseases in its £60 million state-of-the-art building for over 15 years.
This new funding will help keep the CTC at the cutting edge and help it maintain its strong track record for excellence and innovation, whilst meeting growing demand for its services.