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Chrissy & Pat

Wednesday 12th April 2017

Chief Executive Wil Woan and patient ambassador Pat Khan attended the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgeons Conference held in Belfast on 13 to 15 March.

The annual event brings together health professionals involved in cardiothoracic surgery from the UK, Ireland and overseas to discuss recent advancements and achievements in the field. The conference also featured a Cardiothoracic Forum designed to look into cardiothoracic practice and encourage non-medically qualified members of the cardiothoracic team to participate and share their thoughts and experiences.

Wil and Pat were very excited to attend this conference, as it was a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about Heart Valve Voice and the important work that we do. Wil took the stage to speak to the attendees about what HVV will be working on over the next few months and encouraged the specialists to get involved where they can. He covered our plans for the next 12 months including events to help raise awareness of heart valve disease and our contributions to improving treatment.

Wil shared HVV’s key recommendations of our Vision Report including our work to increase awareness of the signs and symptoms of heart valve disease, to have all people over the age of 65 routinely checked with a stethoscope exam and for heart valve disease patients to have access to appropriate and effective treatments. You can read HVV’s full vision report here.

This was also and excellent experience for Pat as it was her first conference as an HVV patient ambassador. “I had a great time at the conference. I was able to speak to the professionals who were there and learn about some of the exciting developments in cardiac surgery straight from the experts,” said Pat. “I was more than happy to share my experience of my surgery and recovery with the clinicians and they seemed quite eager to hear about cardiac surgery from the patient’s perspective.”

HVV will be attending many more events like this in the near future to continue to educate ourselves and others about the importance of heart valve disease awareness.