Heartbeat Centre To Close

NHS Highland has intimated that it is intent on closing the Heartbeat Centre and Cardiac Rehabilitation unit at Raigmore Hospital.

Many patients, public and professionals have raised their concerns, but to no avail.

The Heartbeat Centre and Cardiac Rehabilitation unit was the focus and a key factor in improving health and wellbeing, not just for Heart Failure patients but for all cardiac patients.

The Heartbeat Centre was opened in 2005 by HRH Princess Anne after funds were raised by substantial public donation to meet the clearly perceived need to help and support cardiac patients in understanding and being able to manage the complexities of their new condition.

That need still remains and the same need will continue for as long as more and more new heart patients appear.

To see it now go is as if the clock were being turned back by a decade or more. It now condemns current and future heart patients to a diminished level of care and support.   Abandoning them to survive as best they can with their new found heart condition, and all that that can bring.

It is indeed a sad occasion