Cardiac patients across West Wales look set to benefit from a showcase conference held in Pembrokeshire this week. The Pembrokeshire Community Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme hosted the first ever 'Healthy Heart' Conference aimed at sharing current best practice in the field of cardiac rehabilitation. The purpose of the conference was to educate, inform and inspire patients, health and leisure professionals and the wider community in all aspects of cardiac rehabilitation care across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion. It was attended by more than 100 people and chaired by the newly-appointed director of nursing and quality for Hywel Dda NHS Trust, Caroline Oakley. Said cardiologist at Withybush Hospital, Dr. Nigel Jowett: "Over the last four years, the Healthy Heart programme has brought together health and leisure services to deliver good cardiac rehabilitation as close as possible to the patient's own home. This service is tremendously important in terms of instilling confidence into those patients and empowering them to live full and independent lives." The Pembrokeshire Community Healthy Heart Cardiac Rehabilitation Programme has been running for four years and is a partnership project between Hywel Dda NHS Trust, Pembrokeshire Leisure and Pembrokeshire Local Health Board. They have worked together to ensure exercise and rehabilitation programmes are available in community and leisure centres across the county. The programme has been made possible thanks to £260,000 in funding donated by the Big Lottery Fund. The 'Healthy Heart' conference was designed to share this best practice and speakers attended from across the UK, including Professor David Thompson from Leicester University, Dr. Lena Izzat (associate cardiology specialist, Prince Philip Hospital), Dr. Nigel Jowett (cardiologist, Withybush Hospital), Dr. Mark Anderson (cardiologist, Morrison Hospital), Mr. Paul Smith (All-Wales Cardiac Rehabilitation Working Group), Dr. Richard Williams (physiologist, Tetbury), Miss Gwen Strong (BACR), Ms Elaine McNish (WAG) and Miss Collette Davies (Big Lottery Fund project manager). The conference programme outlined current cardiac rehabilitation practice across Wales, the benefits and psychological impact of this programme on patients, individual patient case studies and new developments in the field. There was also a display of current best practice. Said the project committee, who organised the conference: "We hope that this will be the first of many such conferences and programmes that will help to improve rehabilitation services for cardiac patients across Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion."
