Infirmary no longer has cardiac arrest team

Rochdale Infirmary

Rochdale Infirmary no longer has a cardiac arrest team.

The team has been removed from the hospital, meaning that if a patient suffers from a cardiac arrest or needs the Team, hospital staff will have to call them an ambulance.

Whilst waiting for the ambulance to arrive staff will then call an ALS (Advance Life Support) provider, to attend the scene.

However, hospital bosses say the move should be looked at as positive because they are providing an appropriate level of support to the services that remain at the Infirmary.

The Health Trust says that a hospital providing the level of service that the Infirmary does is not expected to have a ‘full blown’ cardiac arrest team.

Councillor Jean Ashworth has slammed the move and reiterated her message that the borough is being left “unsafe” by hospital bosses.

A spokesman for the Trust said: “The essential point is that the support available to the services that remain at Rochdale Infirmary matches the level of risk of patients suffering a cardiac arrest.

“The risk of patients suffering a cardiac arrest at Rochdale Infirmary is now much lower.
“This is because the hospital no longer provides acute inpatient services and higher risk patients are no longer admitted.

“The arrangements we have in place mean that dedicated members of staff, fully trained in Advanced Life Support techniques, will respond to a cardiac arrest call at Rochdale Infirmary.”