Getting to the heart of care 

You are as likely to die from heart failure as you are from cancer. It is one of the top reasons for admissions to Leicester’s Hospitals. However if a patient who has heart failure sees the right doctor at the right time their survival rate increases significantly.

Dr Loke is a consultant cardiologist at Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital. He runs the rapid access heart clinic, which sees patients with heart failure within three days of referral.

“The traditional route for heart patients to get specialist care is quite long. Often people have deteriorated by the time we see them, then they need an emergency admission. By seeing patients swiftly we have been able to reduce the number of people who are admitted to hospital, as well as helping them to stay as well as possible in the longer term,” says Dr Loke.

“The service was commissioned following a chance meeting with a GP, Dr Nick Willmott, who could instantly see the potential in having a rapid access service.  We now have a clinic, which runs for three days a week, four if necessary.”

Unlike many clinics, every patient is seen by a consultant or senior registrar. Information is sent back to patients’ GPs the same day as the clinic, to ensure continuity of care. “Feedback from GPs and patients has been great,” continued Dr Loke.

Ronald Lowe, who is 79 and from Whitwick, was referred to the rapid access heart clinic in autumn 2015, after a number of visits to his GP. He was having problems with his breathing and was retaining a lot of water. “My GP had tried a lot of different types of medicine to try to get me better. None of them had really worked, so he sent me to Loughborough hospital for a scan, which I had really quickly. They found a problem with my heart and I saw a specialist doctor – Dr Loke at the heart clinic.

“He was brilliant and put me on some different medication. Within a week I had lost 20lbs, or 20 pints of fluid and was feeling much better.”