Campaign to bring cutting-edge diagnostic equipment to Bradford (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Campaign to bring cutting-edge diagnostic equipment to Bradford

9:59am Wednesday 1st July 2009 in

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The people of Bradford are being asked to join the fight against heart disease and back a campaign which will bring cutting-edge diagnostic equipment to Bradford Royal Infirmary.

The Telegraph & Argus has teamed up with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) to ensure the success of the Beating Hearts in Bradford Appeal.

The BHF launched the appeal in December and has so far raised more than £30,000 towards the £105,000 needed to fund a life-saving heart scanner, called a 3D echocardiograph machine, for BRI.

Each year coronary heart disease claims the lives of more than 90,000 people in the UK.

In Bradford alone 718 men and 761 women died from heart and circulatory disease last year – 34.2 per cent and 30.99 per cent of all deaths respectively.

That’s potentially almost 1,500 families affected by the loss of a loved one.

A total of 473 men had a heart attack and 205 died from a heart attack and 264 women suffered a heart attack and 137 women died from a heart attack.

This is why experts at the British Heart Foundation agree with cardiologists at Bradford Royal Infirmary – a 3D echocardiograph is an essential and lifesaving piece of equipment for a city such as Bradford, with its high levels of heart disease.

Every year around 5,000 heart scans are carried out by staff in the cardiology department at Bradford Royal Infirmary. For some patients the scans, which are currently done in 2D, offer reassurance. For others the scans give a devastating but vital diagnosis and allow cardiologists to plan how to manage a patient’s condition.

Consultant cardiologist and clinical director of the cardiology department at Bradford Royal Infirmary, Dr Steven Lindsay, said: “Locally, we have higher prevalence of heart disease than any of our leafy neighbours.

“Heart disease tracks with deprivation and Bradford has one of the most deprived populations in the country. Smoking is one of the major risk factors.

“We also have a substantial ethnic minority population who have a higher prevalence of heart disease than Caucasians.”

All these factors keep the team at the cardiology department very busy and drive their ambition to be at the cutting edge of care for local heart patients.

“We try and keep ourselves ahead of the average hospital and this 3D echocardiograph is important to us,” said Dr Lindsay. “It provides us with much more information about a patient’s heart than we can get from conventional technology. It allows us to step up the quality of diagnosis.”

Fellow consultant cardiologist Dr Sudantha Bulugahapitiya agrees. “We believe our local community should have access to the best possible diagnostic services and cutting-edge advancements to aid the investigation and management of possible heart related complaints,” he said. “The new generation of cardiac ultrasound machine provides exceptional quality imaging of the heart, enabling us to make a more comprehensive assessment of the heart than previously. This will be of unquestionable benefit to our patients.”

Sue Green, volunteer and fundraising manager for the British Heart Foundation in West Yorkshire and Beating Hearts in Bradford Appeal manager said: “This vital initiative will only be made possible through your donations of time and money.

“You can support us at work, school, university, at your local club or even with friends.

“We really need your help now so we can reach this target. We need hands to help us with events and local activities, collections, talks to schools and groups.

“Please tell your family, friends, you local church, group or association about the appeal to see if they are willing to support in some way.

“The support we are already receiving from people in Bradford for this appeal is wonderful and we would greatly value any more donations of either people’s time or money.”

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