Oxford Heart Centre
Friday 6th October 2017
On the 2 October, Wil Woan, Chief Executive of UK valve disease charity Heart Valve Voice, attended a stakeholder briefing at Oxford Heart Centre at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford. Along side Mr Mario Petrou, Consultant Cardiac Surgeon and Head of Programme for Complex Aortic Surgery, Wil met with Oxford East Member of Parliament Anneliese Dodds to discuss heart valve disease and its impact on the NHS and on patients both locally and throughout the UK.
“This meeting was a brilliant opportunity to discuss the challenges patients are facing with regards to access to and long waits for heart valve disease treatment with Ms Dodds,” said Wil. “In addition both myself and Ms Dodds had a chance to see some of the amazing work that Mario and the team at Oxford Heart Centre do for valve patients in the area.”
Wil introduced Ms Dodds to the work of Heart Valve Voice. This included the work being done to raise awareness of valve disease such as the charity’s recent regional work in Southampton and the latest announcement of Heart Valve Voice’s partnership with the 2018 European Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day. They also discussed some of the issues surrounding valve disease such as longer waiting lists, lack of access to treatment or treatment centres and the need to invest in the training of more cardio thoracic surgeons.
“It was great to see Ms Dodds’ interest in learning more about valve disease and the affects it has on the system and patients. I was also excellent to learn how keen Ms Dodds was to get involved and support the important work of Heart Valve Voice,” said Mr Petrou. “My colleagues and I appreciate the work that Heart Valve Voice does to raise awareness of valve disease and to connect clinicians with MPs and policy makers in meetings like this. It is so important for clinicians and organisations to have these opportunities to ensure that our patients voice’s are being heard and that they are receiving the best care possible.”