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Date Published: 29/06/2022

ARCHIVED - New unit to be created at Torrevieja Hospital to speed up acute heart attack care

The Valencia region's Ministry of Health aims to cut treatment waiting times in the Vega Baja area of Alicante province

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - New unit to be created at Torrevieja Hospital to speed up acute heart attack care

Following 15 years of demands for an acute heart attack unit at Torrevieja Hospital, the Ministry of Health plans to create a new centre to speed up care.

The Conselleria de Sanidad will meet after the summer to finalise plans to introduce an active Code Infarction service until 9pm five days a week in a bid to reduce the time that elapses between a patient with symptoms of acute myocardial infarction and treatment.

The aim is to set up a Haemodynamics Unit within the next three months and extend the service from 8am to 9pm from Monday to Friday.

A 24-hour service will be provided at the General Hospital of Elche, which, since opening in 2006, has been limited to midday.

The Infarction Code Plan will involve the coordination of Haemodynamics unit professionals, who have interventional cardiologists, and staff at Primary Care centres and the Health Emergency Services.

According to the Ministry of Health, "the aim is to reduce the mortality rate of acute myocardial infarction, and therefore, coordination between professionals is essential in order to treat the patient as soon as possible".

"Thus, when a patient comes to a healthcare service with symptoms of heart attack, any medical centre or service can activate the Heart Attack Code by alerting the CICU," it added.

Once the Infarction Code has been activated, patients with acute symptoms will be transferred to Torrevieja Hospital where they will receive priority treatment.

This usually involves an urgent catheterisation with immediate opening of the artery causing the infarction (primary angioplasty) or, if angioplasty is not possible for any reason, the administration, in the shortest possible time, of medication to dissolve the clot causing the infarction (fibrinolysis).

Back in April, just six months after the Valencia regional government reclaimed control of Torrevieja Hospital from management company Ribera Salud, the Works Council called for the immediate resignation of the new directors citing a lack of organisation and pay coupled with a surge in patient and hospital user complaints.

Now read: Hospital admissions rebound in Alicante: Valencia Covid update June 29

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