As part of Sheffield Hospital Charity’s ongoing work to improve the care and treatment of patients in Sheffield, in November 2010, we launched the South Yorkshire Heart Appeal. This appeal raises funds to help the staff of the South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Centre save lives and reduce the odds of death from coronary heart disease for the people of our region and beyond. In the UK more people die from Heart and Circulatory Disease (CVD) than all cancers put together, with more than 1:3 deaths from CVD each year. Despite the fact that South Yorkshire has a higher than average prevalence of heart disease, we are fortunate in that patients benefit from the South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Centre, based in the Chesterman Wing at the Northern General Hospital. This regional centre is a centre of excellence, providing top quality, modern facilities for the management of heart and lung disease, enabling multidisciplinary teams to work together to provide holistic, integrated treatment for patients. The South Yorkshire Heart Appeal aims to raise funds to support specialist cardiac services and world class research at the South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Centre, which treats patients from Sheffield Rotherham Barnsley Doncaster Bassetlaw North Derbyshire Every penny spent by the South Yorkshire Heart Appeal on care, treatment and building projects, will benefit patients now and in the future. We need support from as many people as possible, to raise as much money as possible, for this fundraising appeal, which will in turn bring huge benefits to cardiac patients from across South Yorkshire. So if you want to make a donation, or do some fundraising, do please get in touch with us. Contact details for the South Yorkshire Heart Appeal are on our contact us page. For ideas and support for your fundraising please visit our main charity fundraising pages. Alternatively, you can download 'Your guide to fundraising' and a Registration form here.

The Role of the South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Centre

This well-respected regional centre provides state of the art treatment for a wide range of heart conditions. The specialist services (Cardiology and Heart Surgery) include:

• Interventional Cardiology
  Today, the majority of procedures for many conditions are non-surgical and require a shorter recovery period. Approximately 1,500 patients are treated per annum.
• South Yorkshire Heart Attack Centre Patients from across the region suffering severe heart attacks are diagnosed by highly trained paramedics and brought directly to the South Yorkshire Cardiothoracic Centre for primary angioplasty. The life-saving treatment is available 24/7 for emergencies and must be performed as soon as possible to limit the damage to the heart muscle during the heart attack. A report published by the Royal College of Physicians showed that 88% of patients at the Northern General Hospital received primary angioplasty within 150 minutes of calling for help, meaning the Trust’s new service is ranked amongst the best in the country. For patients who undergo an immediate coronary angioplasty (balloon inflation and stent insertion in a blocked artery), the survival rate is 98% at the time of discharge from hospital
• Heart Failure Service
  This service has a dedicated heart failure ward where the consultant cardiologists and seven nurse specialists aim to provide gold standard investigation and treatment. The team work closely with colleagues in the Diabetes Service and community working teams
• Cardiac Surgery Service
  This service offers a full range of specialist cardiac surgery procedures, including valvular and aortic disease and coronary bypass surgery. The team specialises in mitral valve, redo and aortic surgery undertaking 1,300 open heart surgery procedures per annum with excellent results.
• Cardiac Rhythm Management Service
  This service provides diagnostic and outpatients services, simple and complex pacemaker services, interventional cardiology procedures, specialist syncope clinic and a dedicated atrial fibrillation clinic. Patients are supported by an arrhythmia care co-ordinator giving specialist advice and the team work closely with the Heart Failure, Inherited Cardiac Conditions and Adult Congenital Heart Disease services.
• Inherited Cardiac Conditions Service
  This service investigates, treats and supports patients and families with a wide range of inherited cardiac conditions. The team works closely with the Clinical Genetics Service and Sheffield Children’s Hospital, to provide a family centred service benefitting from nurse specialists who can provide counselling and lifelong support to patients affected by an inherited condition. The team have a national reputation for the quality and depth of service they provide and recently won the Acute Care Award at the Yorkshire and the Humber Health and Social Care Awards (1st out of 200 entries).
• Adult Congenital Heart Disease Service (part of the Yorkshire Adult Congenital Heart Disease Network)
  Congenital heart disease affects approx 1% of all babies. Survival rates have improved from only 15% in the 1980’s to 85% today surviving into adulthood, thanks to advances in children’s heart surgery. The service offers vital long term care for this growing number of adult patients.
• NIHR Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (CVBRU)
  The role of this new unit is to undertake clinical research, involving patients and healthy volunteers to conduct research into Coronary Artery Disease, specifically investigating why the people of South Yorkshire have heart attacks.
  

  The Sheffield Cardiovascular Biomedical Research Unit (CVBRU) is one of only a handful of such centres in the country. Combining research and clinical staff, the unit aims to translate cutting edge research into new clinical procedures and understanding, thereby improving the treatment of patients with Cardiovascular Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension in Sheffield and across South Yorkshire. The Research Nursing Team has so far recruited over 250 patients, either with Acute Coronary Syndromes or Pulmonary Hypertension Disease onto the studies being conducted at the unit.

  With the help of donations from the wider community, the South Yorkshire Heart Appeal aims to fund pioneering research into projects such as “Understanding the genetics of heart disease using next generation technology.”