WORK is well underway to build two new cardiac catheterisation labs at Basingstoke hospital.

The new labs will expand facilities and improve cardiac services provided by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), and are set to replace the current lab and a temporary facility in Basingstoke hospital.

HHFT appointed Darwin Group Limited as the main contractor on the project, which will see the new cardiac catheter laboratories (Cath Lab) built to perform cardiac procedures to transform and save patients’ lives.

The demand for these services at HHFT has grown over the past few years, resulting in a 22 per cent increase in the number of procedures since 2012.

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The expansion will mean HHFT can continue to deliver cardiac procedures and be there for the growing number of patients needing cardiac interventions as well as allowing the trust to provide curative treatments for abnormal heart rhythms which are currently carried out in other hospitals.

The new labs will have a dedicated ambulance entrance to provide direct emergency access.

Planning permission was granted for the new build in August last year and work is expected to be complete by September and be fully operational in October.

Dr Lara Alloway, chief medical officer at HHFT, described the work as “very exciting”.

Malcolm Ace, chief financial officer at HHFT, previously said: “As the population grows and the demand for our services continues to increase, we need to develop further in order to keep providing efficient and sustainable health services.”

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