Island Life Magazine Ltd April/May 2010 | Page 119

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Island Life - April/May 2010

Photo: Left, Dr Nouman Butt (Senior House Officer) and
Dr Dominic Lamb (Consultant Cardiologist) attending a
patient on the CCU ward.

flying every three minutes 24 hours a day.’ We
thought: ‘Do we really want that?’ Then this
opportunity came up. We were very lucky.”
He and his wife Nicki, and daughters aged 13
and 9, have not looked back. They’ve swapped
constant traffic jams for lots of activities for the
girls. “Opportunities such as The Royal Victoria
Yacht Club are wonderful and fairly unique to
the Island.”
Having trained in the large London hospitals,
then done locum work in Reading, Dr Lamb
appreciates the more compact nature of St
Mary’s, where you can just walk up a corridor
to discuss a patient with a colleague in a
different department. But notable also is the
distinctive social polarization of the Island.
“I don’t recall working somewhere with such
deprived areas so close to so many manor
houses. But whoever the patients are, they all
get the same treatment.”
The fact of being on an Island can add a
challenge to treating heart patients. “Yesterday,
on coronary care, I saw somebody in a bit of
trouble. We promptly recognised the correct
clinical diagnosis, confirmed it on a scan here,
and arranged for the coast guard helicopter to
take him to Southampton, and he had a very
successful operation.” He adds: “Geography
apart, I would say our treatment is as good as
anywhere else.”
Asked about the frequent criticism of the
NHS in the media his reaction is surprising:
“To ignore justified criticism wouldn’t be that
constructive – you wouldn’t improve things.”
One general concern is that the length of stay
in hospital is far shorter than it once was, but
Dr Lamb explains: “We know that by day five,
the complication after a heart attack is so low,
provided all has gone well, that it is safe to
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Photo: Left, Dr Dr Nouman Butt (Senior House Officer)
and Dr Dominic Lamb (Consultant Cardiologist) discussing
a patients notes.

release the patient. Everything comes down to
the degree of benefit for the patient balanced
against the risk.”
Some of his customers are “the gentlemen
from across the road,” he says, gesturing
towards one of the Island’s three prisons. “A
bit tricky when they’re chained to two minders,
but you’ve got to get on with it, ask the same
questions you’ve got to ask, and do the same
things.”
And if people don’t take his advice, say, to
quit smoking? “Ultimately it’s up to them.
I can’t force them to,” he grins, citing the
oft-heard repost: ‘But my nan smoked 90 a day
and she lived to be 100.’
He is more frustrated with a situation that
has come about through improved technology
than with hard-to-convince patients. “Blood
tests these days are so sensitive that they can
indicate any kind of tiny heart muscle damage
– even paratroopers yomping across fields
can show positive. Sometimes people get told
they’ve had a heart attack – and that’s worrying
for them, but not quite true. Early diagnosis
is good – but early accurate diagnosis is even
better.”
Then Dr Lamb grins. “If that’s the worst
frustration in my job I suppose I’m not doing
too badly.”
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