Worcestershire Royal Hospital starts drive-through pacemaker checks

Cardiac physiologists can download information through the car window

Cardiac patients are being seen at drive-through clinics in a hospital's converted car park to help clear a backlog due to the Covid pandemic.

People with a pacemaker can stay in a car at Worcestershire Royal for its annual check, by holding an object over their implanted device by their chest.

Information is then downloaded on to a tablet, as part of the review lasting about five to 10 minutes.

About 25 patients per day can be seen in purpose-built sheltered pods.

The scheme will help free up capacity within the cardio-pulmonary department.

Consultant cardiologist and clinical director for cardiology Will Foster said: "We're trying to aim to do 125% of what we were doing pre pandemic and this drive-through centre really allows us to do that."

Asked about hospital space inside in his department, he said: "Space is at a premium. There are also still social-distancing requirements, but the space is limited, we are a limited site."

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He also said the drive-through scheme was "all about a much better patient experience", stating people "sometimes spent an hour trying to find a parking space", but did not have to for these visits.

The process takes roughly five to 10 minutes, the trust said

Both pacemakers and ECG monitors can be checked without patients leaving their car at the Worcester hospital.

An object is given to them through the window to hold up over their implanted device.

The information is downloaded from the device on to a tablet "or pacemaker programmer", which then sends the details on to a trust database for review, which is usually done on a computer in the drive-through office.

The patient waits a few minutes before the results are given.

Malcolm Johnson said appointments used to take anything up to an hour-and-a-quarter, but his visit lasted 12 minutes

Malcolm Johnson, 64, from Battenhall, Worcester, said he "hadn't had an appointment for two years, near enough to the day", but visited this week.

He stated: "Considering it was a heart check-up, I've got to say it was a fantastic experience, very quick.

"In the winter it did cross my mind what it would be like, but they had the mobile heaters I noticed."

A drive-through service for patients to fit their own heart monitoring devices has cut an NHS waiting list by nearly 90%, Doncaster and Bassetlaw Teaching Hospitals trust has said.

It stated there were 1,400 patients on a waiting list when the service started in July last year, but that figure had dropped down to 148 as of 2 August.