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Hospital holds pop-up clinic to reach community

Alex Meakin
BBC News, Berkshire
BBC Navin Chandra, a consultant cardiologist, stands in front of a pop-up clinic in Slough. He is wearing a white shirt with a grey sleeveless jacket. He has a stethoscope over his shoulders and is smiling. BBC
Consultant cardiologist Navin Chandra said the disease can have no symptoms in the early stages

A hospital has held a pop-up clinic in a supermarket car park to encourage more members of the South Asian community to get checked for heart valve disease (HVD).

Doctors at Wexham Park Hospital, in Slough, said they noticed that while people of South Asian ethnicity make up 50% of the local population, less than 5% of patients in their HVD clinic were from that community.

Navin Chandra, a consultant cardiologist at the Berkshire hospital said: "It is mainly due to a lack of awareness, perhaps a lack of language specific information."

The disease is most common in the elderly and symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations and swollen ankles and feet, according to the NHS.

The pop-up event was organised with the UK Valve for Life initiative, which aims to improve access to life-saving and life-changing, minimally invasive heart valve interventions.

Speaking at the event, Dr Chandra said there may be "no symptoms at all" in the early stages of the disease.

"So, capturing it early and knowing about it early is quite important," he said. "We're here to raise awareness by being out in the community.

"It is mainly due to a lack of awareness perhaps a lack of language specific information, not feeling fully aware of what the symptoms might be and when to seek help."

Doctors could pick up "someone that has low symptom burden but has got a significant problem with their heart", Dr Chandra added.

"There are people out there that might have symptoms but don't know what to put it down to. Some people might just think it's part of being older."

Slough MP Tan Dhesi is wearing a pink turban as well as a white shirt and navy suit. He is smiling and the pop-up heart clinic is visible in the background.
Slough MP Tan Dhesi attended the public event

Slough's Labour MP Tan Dhesi was at the event and told the BBC: "Heart valve disease is both common and serious.

"However, early diagnosis and intervention can help to save lives.

"We held a roundtable discussion as to how do we deal with the problem, especially within Slough, of very low diagnosis rates, especially within the South Asian community."

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