Healthcare: First heart hospice in South Asia opens up in Hayatabad

Patients suffering from chronic heart disease will get specialised treatment, counselling.

PESHAWAR: The provincial government has established a specialised centre in the city for people suffering from chronic heart disease. This is the first such hospice in South Asia.

The Heart Hospice Home in Hayatabad, also known as the Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre (CRC), will provide heart disease treatment which is unavailable in many hospitals due to a lack of facilities. Patients suffering from chronic diseases will get specialised treatment and counselling.

Health Minister Zahir Ali Shah inaugurated the rehabilitation centre on Friday. The provincial government provided Rs80 million for the centre, while the Cardiac Care Foundation donated Rs30 million.

Dr Zahid Aslam Awan, head of cardiology at the Hayatabad Medical Complex, has been appointed the centre’s head. Around 14 doctors and 12 nurses will work in the institute during the initial stage.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Shah said the province needed such a centre because other hospitals in the region were overburdened and lacked heart treatment facilities.



Dr Kamran Bangash, a consultant for the institute, said every person has a 20% chance of heart failure and there was a 75% increase in the chance of mortality after having a chronic heart disease for five years.

“A majority of patients are discharged prematurely and 50% of patients who suffer from heart problems are admitted in wards other than cardiology because of the high number of patients,” he said.

He added the CRC will be split into four floors with the first floor housing facilities such as angiography, angioplasty, X-rays and ultrasounds. The top floor will be reserved for training nurses to deal with patients who develop depression. The second and third floors will be segregated for the treatment of men and women respectively.

An Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator will be provided to those patients who have suffered a heart attack and require constant monitoring for life-threatening arrhythmia. Other devices such as cardiac resynchronisation therapy defibrillators will also be available.

Dr Bangash said a telecommunication system which incorporates Skype will also be launched for patients requiring medicine or expert advice. This system will also allow patients to call the institute for help.

The centre will provide free food and CRC vehicles will pick up patients from other hospitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2013.