Cardiac Catheter Lab - Maidstone

Official opening of Cardiac Catheter Lab

Our picture shows Maidstone Consultant Cardiologist Dr Bet Mishra with Professor Roger Boyle, National Director for Heart Disease and Stroke and Geoff Clark, anchorman with BBC South East.

They were at the official opening of the new £3 million cardiac catheter lab, another major boost to local healthcare facilities. It means heart patients in Maidstone no longer have to travel to London for their diagnostic tests and treatments and staff have state of the art facilities to work in.

It provides a second cardiac catheter lab within the Trust, the other being at K&S.
With the two services running side by side, we will be able to see and treat over 1,600 heart patients a year who would have otherwise had to travel to London for their care.

Professor Boyle told the cardiology staff and Board members at the event that when he took up his post there was no access to cardiology in Kent - everyone had to go to London. Now, local people get local services, and this superb new facility was part of the national success story of heart disease, with a 44% reduction in deaths between 1996 - 2006.

Geoff Clark is a former patient and has been a good friend of this Trust for several years. Unveiling the plaque he said that it was a very emotional experience for him to open the unit: "I feel thrilled and honoured. My heart is still beating because of people like you. I had 4 weeks of intensive care here and if I was seriously ill again there is no place else I would rather be. These are state of the art facilities and you are state of the art people doing a fantastic job," he said.