In May 2015 Barrie Stubbs, 80, had the CardioMEMS device fitted at Royal Brompton. Barrie, from Uckfield, East Sussex, suffers from heart failure and, since having the device fitted has had to attend only one appointment with his cardiology consultant, Dr Alex Lyon (above centre), in the past year. Becky Lucas (above left), Barrie’s cardiac nurse, monitors him remotely every day, and he sees his local GP for blood tests and prescriptions.
“It’s magic,” says Barrie, a former flying instructor. “In the morning, I lie on the pillow, which is attached by a thick cable to the monitoring unit on my bedside table. The antenna in the pillow picks up the signal from the unit in my pulmonary artery, and the reading is transmitted to Becky. She has called twice to say my pulmonary blood pressure is too high, and on those occasions, she told me to increase my medication to stabilise my readings.
“Dr Lyon and Becky have been wonderful,” adds Barrie. “I’d like to thank them for looking after me so well.”