One Stop Clinics:
Patients in our region have had to undergo investigations in many different locations before their consultation with a Cardiologist. We now offer a ‘one stop’ service where patients will undergo clinical assessment and appropriate investigations (e.g. echocardiography and exercise tolerance testing) in a single sitting which will allow comprehensive and expedient cardiac assessment in a single sitting. This will be especially advantageous for patients coming from remote locations.

Open Access Investigations:
We also provide an investigation only service where this is specifically requested. This applies to ECG interpretation, holter monitoring, exercise tolerance testing, transthoracic echocardiography, stress echocardiography, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and device interrogation.Where these investigations are significanlty abnormal an early Cardiac Consultation will br provided to assess the patient more fully. Request forms are available on the website under ‘ Online Referral Forms’.

Pacemaker Services:
We keep a number of device programmers so that all of the various pacemakers and implantable defibrillators (ICDs) can be checked in appropriate patients. Representatives of Pacemaker and ICD companies interface with us regularly and assist in the troubleshooting of technical issues as they arise.

Inpatient Services:
There are dedicated cardiac beds at Dubbo Private Hospital on our Cardiac Care Unit. These are monitored beds with specialist nurses in attendance. Appropriate cardiac patients can be admitted directly to these beds following transfer from peripheral medical units or via the Emergency Department at Dubbo Base Hospital after initial triage.

Rehabilitation:
Following treatment patients will be offerred respite care and cardiac rehabilitation at Dubbo Private. This will allow for multidisciplinary involvement and Cardiology review following a return to Dubbo.

One Stop Preoperative Cardiac Assessment:
Patients will be seen and assessed in a single consultation where pertinent investigations including echocardiography, exercise stress testing or dobutamine stress echocardiography will be undertaken to fully assess their suitability for general anaesthesia. Patients can be referred online or by downloading a referral form and faxing it through. These assessments will take place within 2 weeks of receipt of the referral and all patients will be seen periprocedurally where appropriate.