Friday, 3 August 2012
Morriston Hospital’s Echocardiography Department has once more been recognised as meeting every top UK standard.
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All categories of heart scanning the department have been awarded accreditation by the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) for the next five years. In 2007 the Morriston department became the first in the UK to receive this accreditation.Dr Adrian Ionescu, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, said:
“Ultrasound scanning of the heart is the most commonly performed specialist cardiac investigations, and without it modern cardiology would be inconceivable.
“We have six accredited physiologists and three others are working towards accreditation, making this department one of the top departments in the UK in terms of professional level of the staff.”
The Echo Department has seen many remarkable developments in the past 5 years:
- the advent of 3-dimensional scanning, which allows the display of ‘life-like’ pictures of the heart;
- the adoption of contrast echo, where clear pictures of the heart can be obtained even in ‘difficult’ cases;
- the expansion of the stress echo service, which makes the diagnosis of narrowed heart arteries compliant with the current recommendations from NICE*
The department also has a busy educational programme, including a recent international meeting and several regional gatherings.
2012 was the first year in which a full-time Research Fellow was appointed, sponsored from funds from professional societies in Europe, a situation that – it is hoped – will become the norm in future years.
Dr Ionescu added:
“Accreditation – both individual and departmental – is obtained through a rigorous and complex process of training and external, independent assessment, and is a marker of recognition for the high quality for the work in the Echo Department.”
Ends