Cascade Summer/Autumn 2012 - Plymouth Hospitals

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15Awards and achievements
Accreditation for Heart Service
Staff in the Cardiology Department at Derriford Hospital are celebrating after the service they provide
has been nationally recognised and formally accredited.
It has taken several years of
targeted hard work at Plymouth
Hospitals NHS Trust in order to
achieve the goal of British Society of
Echocardiography (BSE)
Departmental Accreditation and we
are pleased to say we are the first
department in the South West to
gain this accolade. BSE
Departmental Accreditation
represents a benchmark of quality
and excellence. It indicates to
patients, commissioners and health
professionals alike that an
echocardiography department meets
these standards. The hard work that
has gone in to improving our service has had a direct beneficial impact on our patients.
The Cardiology Department were visited by a small team of senior Cardiologists and Physiologists from
the BSE who undertook an assessment of the service. Following this assessment the BSE have
awarded the Cardiology Department accreditation in Transthoracic Echocardiology, Transoesophageal
Echocardiology and in Training in Echocardiography.
Dr Gareth Morgan-Hughes, Consultant Cardiologist at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, explains: “An
echocardiogram, also known as an echo, is mainly carried out by Cardiac Physiologists to allow them to
look at the structure of a patient’s heart and how well it functions. It uses sound waves that echo against
the structures in the heart, which helps to build up a detailed picture of the heart.
“Echocardiograms provide us with valuable information about valve and muscle function that can be
important in very sick patients. This enables potentially life-threatening heart conditions to be diagnosed
quickly and accurately.”
Dr Morgan-Hughes continues: “As a department we have been accredited by the BSE for transthoracic
echocardiograms, where a probe is placed on the chest wall and images are take through the chest wall
so we can assess the overall health of the heart and for transoesphageal echocardiograms, where a
probe is passed into the oesophagus (gullet), which lies behind the heart, so detailed images of the heart
valves can be taken. In addition, we have been accredited to provide training in echocardiography to
other healthcare professionals up to individual BSE accreditation levels.
“Every member of the echo service here has contributed to enable us to achieve this accreditation and
we are all proud of this.”
Congratulations Rachel
Rachel Garlick has been successful in being appointed to the
role of Clinical Skills Tutor for the Peninsula Simulation Suite.
This is a significant appointment which will help to increase the
provision of simulation training across a wide variety of
disciplines at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust. Rachel will
commence her new role on the 29th October 2012. Talking
about her appointment Rachel said: “This is a really exciting
opportunity and I can’t wait to get started.”