{"id":26835,"date":"2022-07-20T14:07:19","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T18:07:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26835"},"modified":"2022-07-20T14:07:22","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T18:07:22","slug":"ireland-expanding-program-for-cardiac-patients-to-have-virtual-consultations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26835","title":{"rendered":"Ireland Expanding Program For Cardiac Patients To Have Virtual Consultations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Health Minister Stephen Donnelly made the announcement as a report was published announcing the achievements of 123 projects funded through the Sl\u00e1intecare Integration Fund, launched in 2019 (PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A project that sees hospital consultants carry out virtual consultations with cardiac patients is to be rolled out across Ireland in an effort to shorten long waiting lists and ease pressure on emergency departments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly made the announcement as a report was published announcing the achievements of 123 projects funded through the Sl\u00e1intecare Integration Fund, launched in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim was for dozens of healthcare projects to assess new models of healthcare across community, hospital and voluntary settings, and for the Government to commit to fund projects that have proven effective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking from St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital in Dublin on Wednesday, Mr Donnelly said: \u201cThe aim of this is to provide efficient service for heart failure patients presenting to their GPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEssentially what you have: a patient comes in to their GP with a more complex issue that the GP would normally be able to deal with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe GP does a video call with one of the teams here, with one of the consultants here, and says, \u2018This is my patient, what do you think, should I try the following things?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEssentially, the GP, and therefore the patient, are getting a consultant level of care, but they\u2019re getting it in their community, in their GP practice, without having to wait, sometimes for far too long, because of the waiting lists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re getting great feedback from patients. We\u2019re getting great feedback from GPs, the GPs themselves are loving it, and they\u2019re becoming more and more skilled in the management of all of these chronic diseases as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first phase of this project, astoundingly, saw a 100 per cent reduction in the number of calls to emergency departments and to acute medical assessments units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo imagine the number of people that would have ended up in here worried that something was going on with their heart, and the team here was able to work with their GP and say you don\u2019t need to come in. A 100% reduction in the emergency referrals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA 54 per cent reduction in referrals to specialists (in) cardiology outpatients\u2026 so the impact on patients is absolutely fantastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo we\u2019re now scaling this up, right across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo there\u2019ll be cardiology teams, here in our hospitals, working with the GPs, working with primary care teams, to essentially make sure the patients have the care they need in their GP clinic or ideally at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Ken McDonald, medical director of the Heart Failure Unit at St Vincent\u2019s, said patient perception of the project was positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou might think the patient loses out by not facing (their consultant)\u2026 who is involved in this process, but in fact, their perception is quite the opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very happy\u2026 because the GP is talking to the specialist, getting good advice, without the need and possible travel to institutions such as this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the policy also has a \u201cgreen impact\u201d as it saves patients from driving to hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver 100,000 kilometers were saved in terms of unnecessary transfer or transport for patients and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prof McDonald appealed to the Department of Health and the HSE to continue along this path of improvement for the healthcare sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sl\u00e1intecare project is a 10-year cross-party plan that aims to introduce a universal healthcare system and outsourcing services like diagnostics to local communities.<\/p>\n

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