Tallaght Hospital's CRY centre wins at Astellas
The Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) Centre in Tallaght Hospital was one of the winners at the Astellas Changing Tomorrow Awards held on January 31st. The centre’s project, ‘Giving Hope After Loss’, was awarded first place in the ‘Changing Tomorrow through Hope’ category for the team’s efforts to address the needs of young people who might be at risk of sudden cardiac death and for their bid to help the families of those where the sudden death of a young person has already occurred.
Speaking at the Awards ceremony, the Chair of the Judging Panel, Professor Luke Clancy, praised CRY’s work, saying: “The Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) Charity was started by Marie and Michael Greene who tragically lost their son, Peter, to sudden cardiac death when he was just 15 years old. However, with the help of the team at the CRY Centre at Tallaght Hospital they have turned their painful experience into one of hope for so many others affected by this disease. This project, like all the initiatives recognised here today, is of exceptional quality and exemplifies how dedicated and hardworking our healthcare professionals are. Their commitment, perseverance, and insightfulness are changing tomorrow for their patients”.
The CRY centre looks to offer hope to individuals and families with inherited symptoms of cardiac conditions. It allows time for people to ask questions and aims to alleviate many people’s fears. The centre’s services includes timely access to comprehensive cardiac evaluation for those potentially at risk of sudden cardiac death, information about relevant conditions causing sudden cardiac death and easy access to counselling services for bereaved families.
In the first three years of operation of this service almost 4,000 patients have been evaluated and treated. It was found that over 50% of patients were reassured and discharged after a single visit, allaying often crippling fear and allowing them to regain normal daily functionality- many have lived in fear of sudden death for a long time before evaluation. A small number of patients required treatment with medication and lifestyle modification. Less than 1% of the patients evaluated required referral for potentially lifesaving procedures (mostly implantation of cardioverter / defibrillator).
Reacting to the win at the awards show, Tallaght Hospital’s Consultant Cardiologist, Dr Deirdre Ward commented “We are delighted to have won a Changing Tomorrow Award. Prior to the CRY being set up, there was a real lack of support and specialist services in this area which was difficult for young people with symptoms and families dealing with grief. We hope our initiative will eventually be replicated in other parts of the country and bring hope to people throughout Ireland.”
The Astellas Changing Tomorrow Awards were set up to recognise exceptional work being undertaken by professionals working in the field of health to change tomorrow for their patients. The five winning initiatives were chosen from over 100 entries that were required to detail how their initiative was “changing tomorrow for patients through Leadership, Commitment, Innovation, Hope or Environmental and Social responsibility”. The judging panel for the awards is represented by individuals from the Marie Keating Association, Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA), Chronic Pain Ireland, Irish Patients Association, UCD, ICGP and a medical journalist. For further information on the awards please visit www.changingtomorrowawards.ie.
