A record number of cardiologists will be employed to service the Far North under a nearly $8 million investment to cardiac care at Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service (CHHHS).
CHHHS chief executive Leena Singh said for years staff had been going above and beyond to deliver outstanding care.
However, Ms Singh said the health service was seeing increasing demand on cardiac services and there was a need to keep pace with the growing number of patients which had more than tripled in recent years.
A total 12,635 outpatients have been treated by cardiac team so far this year, with the average inpatient length of stay increasing by more than 7 per cent in the past 12 months.
‘This is why we are investing $7.8 million over three years to expand cardiac services, including recruiting extra staff, and upgrading clinical software for rural hospitals,’ Ms Singh said.
‘We have started recruiting new medical, nursing, allied health and pharmacy staff, including employing four new cardiologists,’ she said.
‘Expanding our cardiac care team is a testament to our dedication to our goals of maintaining the highest standards of medical excellence and patient satisfaction.
‘We have also factored cardiac services into our master planning process for Cairns Hospital, to ensure the service is given enough space for future patient demand.’
Two new cardiologists, Drs Nathaniel Rajkumar and James Wardley, recently started work at Cairns Hospital.
Both specialists have trained at internationally renowned medical institutions in the UK and India.
Ms Singh said the cardiology team would continue to expand in the next few months.
‘We have offered full time jobs to an additional five cardiologists and expect them to arrive over the next 8 months, bringing the total number of heart specialists working at CHHHS to 13, by April 2026, nearly doubling the team’s capacity,’ she said.
‘This is the largest number of cardiologists we have ever recruited in the history of our health service, and even though specialists are in short supply nationally – particularly in regional areas – our reputation has lured world-class cardiologists to Cairns.’
Cairns Hospital director of cardiology services, Justin Ryan, said the additional clinicians would help bolster the cardiac outreach service, which covered an enormous footprint stretching as far south as Tully, and as Far North as Thursday Island.
‘Last year, more than 3,100 patients were able to receive specialist care closer to home through our outreach service,’ he said.
‘That is the highest number of cardiac patients being seen in outreach in Queensland.’
Dr Rajkumar trained at the prestigious Christian Medical College in Vellore, India, and completed extensive postgraduate and interventional cardiology training in India and Adelaide, South Australia.
He said he was passionate about working in the public system due to the significant need for emergency cardiac services.
‘I enjoy outreach work, providing cardiac services to communities – including First Nations communities – to reduce the need for our patients to travel to metropolitan hospitals,’ he said.
Dr Wardley, who graduated from Cambridge University and worked across major hospitals in UK and New Zealand, said he was drawn to the tropical climate, diverse communities and natural beauty of Far North Queensland.
‘I am interested in developing local cardiac intervention capabilities and expanding outreach cardiology across the Far North, including clinics on Thursday Island and Atherton,’ he said.