As an independent charity the North Staffs Heart Committee has invested £4.5 million in the care of heart patients in University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

It has provided many major items of state-of-the-art equipment, including cardiac monitoring systems, ultrasound machines, exercise testing equipment and a complex cardiac mapping system for arrhythmia treatment.

Most recently, the North Staffs Heart Committee has contributed almost £200,000 to the creation of a third catheter laboratory in the Cardiology Department.  In a break with tradition, this included some enabling services that were necessary to bring it to fruition, alongside equipment for the new lab.

The third ‘cath lab’ has given the cardiac team more flexibility and more capacity to treat patients.  The upgraded facilities have created a third fully functional angiography laboratory and have made it possible to dedicate the second cath lab to the specialities of electrophysiology and pacing.

UHNS Charity Manager, Steve Rushton, said:  “All this is fantastic news for heart patients.  The role which the North Staffs Heart Committee plays in supporting local patients is tremendous and their contribution certainly helps keep the UHNS at the forefront of cardiac care.”