€2m lab to tackle heart disease

KERRY has the highest rate of heart disease in Ireland but a new cardiac laboratory at the Bon Secours Hospital, in Tralee, should help early detection and treatment of the disease.

This was claimed yesterday at the opening of the €2.2 million cardiac catheterisation laboratory.

The only facility of its kind in the county, the five-bed laboratory will treat private patients and patients referred from Kerry General Hospital.

The hospital’s manager Paul Garnett said the primary focus was on meeting the needs of Kerry’s GPs and their patients. “We regularly meet with GPs to take soundings on what services are required within the Kerry healthcare system, so as to enhance our services and to avoid duplication with other healthcare providers in the county,” he said.

Prior to the opening of the laboratory this month, patients were referred to facilities in Cork or Limerick, usually involving long journeys and delays in appointments, Mr Garnett added.

Services being provided at the laboratory include coronary angiography, coronary angioplasty, insertion of pacemakers; insertion of implantable defibrillators; digital subtracted angiography and insertion of dialysis, oncology and vascular access.

The unit’s team is led by consultant cardiologist Dr Louis Keary who will be joined by an additional consultant cardiologist in August.

The Tralee hospital, which has 460 staff, has invested more than €10m in projects in recent years and future development plans have been estimated to cost €30m.