February 6, 2023
A new service at Toowoomba Hospital will stop some patients from having to travel to Brisbane to have a coronary angiogram.
The procedure uses x-ray imaging and contrast dye to diagnose heart artery blockages.
The first diagnostic angiogram to be done at the hospital was completed last Friday.
“It went very smoothly, and everyone worked well as a team,” Clinical Nurse Consultant Kirsten Douglas-Robinson said.
“Now that we offer this service, patients may not need to travel to Brisbane for their procedure so they can stay in Toowoomba and have it done here.”
And that makes a big difference to patients like Ken from Allora, who had the procedure on Friday morning.
“It was exciting being the first cab off the rank. Very pleased,” he said.
“It’s good to see the hospital here has this facility to do this procedure, it’s amazing.”
Director of Cardiology Dr Robert Gluer said he was extremely proud of the team and their collaboration with the Medical Imaging department.
“It’s been a massive team effort, the number of people involved and the time and energy that’s gone into this can’t be underestimated,” Dr Gluer said.
“We were very lucky to have the Medical Imaging department upgrading their equipment, and funding from Toowoomba Hospital Foundation for a balloon pump.
“It means that patients will be able to have a diagnostic coronary angiogram here, and only people who need further procedures then need to travel to Brisbane.”
The introduction of the diagnostic service is the beginning of a bigger plan to grow local cardiac services at Toowoomba Hospital, including offering stents to heart attack patients in the future.
