Mark Pawsey MP has praised the “community feeling” given to patients at the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department at the Hospital of St Cross.
At a recent Parliamentary reception at the House of Commons for the British Heart Foundation, Mark Pawsey, MP for Rugby, asked to visit the Cardiac Rehabilitation Department after meeting Jo Holdsworth Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme Manager.
Mr Pawsey met with University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust’s Non-Executive Director, Nick Stokes and Carl Holland, Hospital Manager on Thursday (January 6) to visit the department where he was given a tour by Jo Holdsworth, and David Giles from Rugby Take Heart, the local patient Heart Support Group affiliated to the British Heart Foundation.
The department treats patients following heart related illnesses and provides advice and support for them and their relatives during their immediate and long term recovery. Mr Pawsey spent time looking over the facilities, observing patients using the equipment and discussing the benefits of the education and exercise programmes with three patients.
He then went on to look at the hyperbaric decompression chamber at the Midlands Diving Chamber, which offers NHS funded recompression to divers and is situated on the Hospital of St Cross site.
Mr Pawsey said: “The recent Parliamentary event gave me an introduction to the work of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Unit and has been the main reason for my visit today. The unit is a great local facility that benefits local people and is funded locally through the great work of the Friends of St. Cross. It is a clear indication of the good that the hospital brings to the people of Rugby.
“Having seen the work of the rehabilitation unit in action, it is clear that there are some aspects of healthcare that can generate a community feeling and be regarded as a social event. The programme offered by the department is friendly and it puts a different slant on the concept of exercise.
“Having viewed the facility first hand and spoken with the patients who use the service, I have promised to maintain links with Jo and her team and provide support in any way I can in the future”.
Non-Executive Director Nick Stokes said “I know from the feedback we receive that The Hospital of St Cross is important to the people of Rugby. Today’s tour has given Mr Pawsey the opportunity to not only see our facilities and meet the dedicated staff who work at the Trust but also speak with those who receive the high standards of healthcare the Trust delivers.”