Cardiac surgery improvements have continued at Swansea's Morriston Hospital after concerns were raised in a review in 2021, health chiefs were told. Swansea Bay University Health Board put in place immediate measures at the time, with further actions enacted subsequently.
The cardiac surgery unit is now performing better in a number of specific metrics than the national average. One metric, though - mortality after surgery - was slightly higher than the average, but this could be explained by the unit's high proportion of emergency compared to planned operations, according to executive medical director Richard Evans.
The 2021 cardiac surgery review found a higher than expected mortality for a type of surgery called mitral valve surgery, higher rates of follow-up cardiac surgery due to bleeding and other causes, higher rates of deep sternal wound infection, and higher rates of post-operative neurological and renal dysfunction.
