A NEW clinic designed to give heart patients fast access to specialist heart care has opened at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH).

The new facility, based in a suit of rooms in Ward 21, has been designed for the rapid assessment of patients who do not require hospital admission, but do need specialist cardiac input owing to symptoms such as 'low risk' chest pain, arrhythmias and heart failure.

The clinic also serves patients who need wound reviews after invasive heart operations like angiograms and pacemaker implants.

The trust, currently recommended by NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to become the principle emergency care hospital for the county, has hailed the clinic as a "crucial advancement" in its quality improvement programme for 2016.

Jo Blackwell, directorate manager of cardiology, said: "We are very pleased with the clinic’s success so far and patients are happy to be seen quickly by our specialist staff.

"It is inspiring to see how much care can be improved for patients while making savings, work such as this paves the way for a more widely sustainable NHS."

The trust said savings produced by the introduction of the clinic have allowed it to reinvest funds into recruiting two new advanced nurse practitioners, as well as a clinic administrator, to further support patient care.

Prior to the clinic’s opening, patients with heart problems needing urgent attention were admitted to the hospital’s emergency department or the acute medical unit, lengthening waiting times in those sections.

These patients will now be admitted directly to the new clinic to be assessed by cardiology experts with the intention that patients receive specialist treatment more quickly, relieving pressure on A&E.

In May, Dorset CCG announced its recommendation that Bournemouth be transformed over the next few years into the county's major emergency site - taking a majority of serious emergency patients - while neighbouring Poole Hospital is transformed into a major planned care site.

The plans, part of the ongoing Clinical Services Review, are being examined by NHS England before going to a public consultation in the autumn.