Volume 15, Number 5, September-October 2008

Percutaneous coronary angioplasty in a district general hospital: safe and effective – the Bournemouth model
Dominic Kelly, Manas Sinha, Rosie Swallow, Terry Levy, Johannes Radvan, Adrian Rozkovec, Suneel Talwar

Recent studies have suggested that the safety, efficacy and feasibility of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in hospitals without on-site surgical cover is equivalent to those with these facilities. In addition, recent UK figures suggest that PCI growth is in the region of 15% per year with a corresponding fall in coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs) hence the ratio of PCI to CABG is increasing. In the UK 35% of PCI centres are without on-site surgical cover, however, these centres represent only 18% of total PCI procedures. The Dorset Heart Centre opened in April 2005 the nearest surgical centre being approximately 28 miles in distance. In addition to elective PCI, our centre provides a 9-to-5 Monday-to-Friday primary and rescue PCI service for the Dorset area.

Br J Cardiol 2008;15:244.

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