New clinic providing specialist heart care closer to home

HOPE clinic cardiologist, Dr Paul Wiemers

A community outreach clinic is providing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in the Brisbane North region with access to more culturally safe specialist cardiac care closer to home at the Moreton Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service clinics at Caboolture and Margate.

The Heart Outreach Program for Health Equity (HOPE), which is a partnership between Metro North Health and Moreton ATSICHS provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with access to specialist cardiology services in a familiar, culturally safe local clinic environment instead of a hospital outpatient setting.

Patients referred to the service are seen by a specialist cardiac team consisting of a cardiologist, sonographer, and a cardiac scientist. Access to specialist cardiologists and cardiac investigations services can include telehealth if required, with all cardiac investigations supported by an onsite nurse.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and research shows they are less likely to access mainstream facilities and services that are not culturally appropriate due to access barriers, and fear of discrimination, racism, and cultural exclusion.

Executive Director Metro North Heart and Lung Stream Professor Peter Hopkins said that the HOPE clinic provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with access to specialist care in a more culturally sensitive environment often closer to where they live.

“We see many patients with general and complex cardiac symptoms and conditions, who have been reluctant or anxious to visit their local hospital for treatment, because they don’t feel comfortable,” Prof Hopkins said.

“This reluctance can result in a delay in diagnosis and treatment, which increases risk of further complications and disengagement from health services with increasing time on hospital waitlists.

“The new HOPE clinic model of care provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients with the option to receive
timely, expert care in a more culturally welcoming setting away from hospital.”

More than 80 patients have received care through the clinic since it opened in February.

A third HOPE clinic is planned to open at Kallangur Satellite Hospital in July.