[H]eart services at University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMBT) have received a huge seal of approval after being recognised for excellence by a national specialist society.
The Echocardiography Department at UHMBT has been formally recognised for excellence by the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE).
UHMBT has become one of only 40 Trusts across the UK to achieve accreditation status with the BSE.
BSE departmental accreditation is a recognised benchmark of quality. It indicates to patients, resource allocators and health professionals that an echo department meets realistic quality standards.
Accreditation has been achieved for transthoracic echocardiography and training.
Dr Adrian Brodison, Consultant cardiologist and Clinical lead for cardiology at UHMBT said: “This is a phenomenal achievement for the whole department and the chief echocardiographers in particular who have put in an enormous amount of time into the assessment process. It places the department in a rather select group as only approximately 40 NHS trusts across the UK currently have accreditation status.”
Echocardiography is one of the most widely used diagnostic tests in cardiology. It can provide a wealth of helpful information, including the size and shape of the heart pumping capacity, the location and extent of any tissue damage, structure and function of the heart valves and whether the patient has any heart birth defects. Unlike many other hospital tests it carries no radiation or any other risks to the patient so it can easily be repeated to assess changes over time. In addition advances in scanning equipment means that the scanning equipment can now be brought to the patient’s bedside if a patient is unable to leave the ward.
David Walker, Medical Director, UHMBT said: “In 2017, the Echocardiography department at UHMBT performed nearly 10,000 echocardiograms, whilst at the same time maintaining a professional service with a highly experienced and dedicated team of staff.
“This award is deserved recognition of the hard work the team have put in to streamlining the assessment processes. The ultimate winners is the Bay community who have a first class department on their doorstep.”