Nepean Cardiac Diagnostics

The Nepean Cardiac Diagnostics [NCD] Department is situated in Tower A on level 5 and is a cardiac diagnostic service between Intensive Care Unit [ICU] and Cardiology Medicine.  

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The goal of NCD is to deliver the best patient care and health outcomes through evidence-informed practice, building on both departments' strengths and emphasising their partnership. 

 

The NCD department provides emergency and routine tests for the ICU inpatients as well as providing cardiac ultrasound services to the inpatients of the Nepean, Governor Phillip, Springwood, and Hawkesbury hospitals and outpatients by referring doctors in the district and beyond. 

 

The NCD department also provides short-term practical training in transthoracic echocardiography for outsiders. This aims to promote the use of echocardiography in other intensive care units, emergency, and other health care departments. 

It is a one-to-one hands-on practical course in echocardiography. To apply, download the application form here, complete and send it to  Louise.Smith1@health.nsw.gov.au
  
A full range of the latest equipment provides the full range of non-invasive and semi-invasive cardiac studies. Cardiac studies at Nepean Cardiac Diagnostic Department are: 
  

• Transthoracic Echocardiogram [TTE] (Routine & Complex) 

• Transoesophageal Echocardiogram [TOE] 

• Stress Echocardiogram (Exercise and Pharmacological) 

• Electrocardiograph Investigations 

 
The NCD department's workforce is made up of a variety of employees who make up our team.  NCD Co-directors are A/Prof. Sam Orde and Dr. Faraz Pathan (Co-directors) Manager Ms. Erin Heard, Clinical Nurse Consultant Echocardiographer Ms. Louise Smith, and administrative officer Mrs Deanna McKay.  

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The imaging team includes ICU Nurse Echocardiographers, Echocardiographers, Cardiac Technologists, ICU Echo Fellow, and Cardiology Advanced Trainees. Reporting of TTE and TOEs are performed by one of the five Intensivists and one of the nine Cardiologists daily. 

 
Nepean Cardiac Diagnostics department, apart from providing clinical assessment services, also strives to provide the best and most up-to-date methods of echo assessment. The only way of making this possible is through our ongoing education, quality control, as well as exploratory research where many works have been published in peer review journals.