My visit to the Royal Albert Edward Hospital

I visited the the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary site on Friday 11 February 2011. I was given a guided tour of South Ward, housed in one of the Victorian parts of the hospital, and in contrast was shown the newer builds such as Radiology, Rainbow Ward, the Trust’s Children’s Ward and various departments on the Emergency Floor.

I was also shown around the Cardiology Department including the state-of-the-art Cardiac Catheter Laboratory and was given a special tour of the soon to be opened Coronary Care Department which is being partly funded by Dr Naqvi’s Heart Beat Appeal. The money raised through the appeal, in conjunction with a £1.5million investment by the Trust, aims to further improve and enhance cardiology services for the public of Wigan and beyond.

Dr Nayar Naqvi, Consultant Cardiologist, said, “It was a great pleasure and an honour for me to meet Yvonne. We are grateful to her for having taken the trouble to visit our Cardiology Department and the new Coronary Care Unit. All members of the Cardiology Department are absolutely delighted that she too is supporting our Heartbeat Appeal”.

Carolyn Deresckiewicz, Matron of Cardiology Services, said: “Today was a fantastic opportunity to meet Yvonne and introduce her to the current services that the Cardiology team provides to the patients of Wigan and Leigh, and also provide an opportunity to showcase the new CCU. And explaining how our Heart Beat Appeal has raised funds to equip the new building”.

The new facilities are really impressive and I was particularly struck by the very careful thought which has been given to the layout of the new ‘state of the art’ unit providing patient-centred, high quality care. Wigan is fortunate to have such a dedicated team of health professionals, headed by Dr Naqvi and I look forward to working with them in the future.

I was accompanied by Andrew Foster, Chief Executive and Gill Harris, Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Nursing and Performance, and Les Higgins, Chairman.

Pictured from Left to Right: Rashid Sohail, (Consultant and Clinical Director of Emergency Medicine), Gill Harris, (Deputy Chief Executive, Director of Nursing and Performance), Carolyn Deresckiewicz (Matron of Cardiology Services), Yvonne Fovargue, MP, Dr Nayar Naqvi (Consultant Cardiologist), Margaret Elmer (Cardiology Manager), Les Higgins, (WWL Chairman) and Sheraz Valli, (Estates Officer).