Prestigious recognition for the Cardiology Team

LESS than a year after reconfiguring their service at City Hospital, the Cardiology Department at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust (SWBH) has been accredited by the British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) for providing an extremely high standard of echocardiography service.

This recognition of the Cardiology Department at SWBH acknowledges the high standard across the department for echocardiography services, which is a type of non-invasive cardiac imaging using ultrasound. In the report following inspection by the BSE in September 2015, the inspection team noted the effort of the Department in meeting quality standards, including upgrading of equipment, using the most advanced echocardiography platforms available and updating protocols to ensure safety for patients. In addition, the team established quality control pathways and monitored the quality of the services with regular audits.

Consultant Cardiologist and Speciality Lead, Dr Chetan Varma, said: ‘This is an important achievement for the cardiology department in general and specifically the non-invasive diagnostic aspect of work of the department. Our cardiac imaging services provide high volume with high quality services.  These investigations are delivered by accredited cardiologists and cardiac physiologists and having high-calibre staff is key to the successful delivery of services from our department. We are delighted that we manage to attract and retain new members of staff who are highly specialised in non-invasive cardiac imaging services.

British Society of Echocardiography accreditation is not easy to achieve. Success occurs with attainment of several quality and governance measures. We are one of a few local and national units to have been awarded this.  It is a mark of the highest quality of comprehensive echocardiography services for our patients, including complex echocardiography.  Congratulations are due to the hardworking members of the team, led by Dr Apostolakis, who managed to get this recognition for the Cardiology echocardiography services  The local population we serve should have every confidence in our echocardiography services..”