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Data from 20 regional and local NHS trusts for June 2024 showed that at Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust (RWT), only four of 1,037 patients (0.39%) waited more than six weeks for an echocardiogram, a scan to check the heart and nearby blood vessels.
A similar trend was seen in May 2024, with only five patients (0.50%) out of 1,006 waiting longer than six weeks for testing.
At the start of 2023, RWT’s Cardiac Investigation Department (CID), which serves New Cross and Cannock Chase hospitals, was offering testing within six weeks for just 33 per cent of patients, but by May and June 2024, this had risen to 99.5 per cent and 99.61 per cent respectively.
Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust topped the list with 99.84 per cent approval in June and 100 per cent in May.
Waiting times for many other cardiac tests have also been reduced, such as reports of Holter analysis (a portable device used for at least 24-hour heart monitoring) which now stands at two weeks, while a 24-hour emergency on-call service continues to be available for acute care patients.
The department has hired and retained more employees this year and reduced its reliance on external temporary agencies by 50%, while improving employee morale, teamwork and productivity.
CID also received staff awards, while additional staff attended and spoke at multiple educational events and conferences, won research awards, and published papers.
In addition, this year a number of people have achieved international and UK certification in electrophysiology, cardiac rhythm management and echocardiography.
Chander Sharma, group manager of cardiac services at New Cross Hospital, said: “We pride ourselves on our values of employee empowerment and building a culture of listening.
“By providing employees with ways to actively participate and share feedback and ideas, we have seen significant improvements in performance
“The benefits of initiatives like employee surveys and free speech are huge and can be a real objective driver of change.”
New Cardiology Service Manager Emma Painter said: “We have had a fantastic 12 months and the whole CID department has worked tirelessly to achieve great things.
“We still have work to do and each team in each subject area faces their own challenges.
“But with effective teamwork and a desire to achieve, these challenges have been met. I am very proud of the Heart Investigations team.”
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