UoG to provide free heart screening for students, staff and families to support community health
University of Gloucestershire is offering free heart screening for students, staff and their family members as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting health and wellbeing in the community.
The University will host a Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) heart screening day at its Oxstalls Campus in Gloucester as part of its long-running Stop the Heartbreak campaign and in partnership with the Ashley Goodwin Memorial Fund.
The screening is designed to help identify potentially serious underlying heart conditions in young people which may otherwise go undetected because they often present no obvious symptoms.
Every week in the UK, at least 12 apparently fit and healthy young people aged 35 and under die from undiagnosed heart conditions.
For the past 13 years, the University’s Stop the Heartbreak campaign has raised funds to provide potentially life-saving heart screening for young people across Gloucestershire, helping more than 1,000 people to access screening.
The initiative is part of the University’s wider approach to supporting health and wellbeing within the community.
The Ashley Goodwin Memorial Fund was established in memory of Ashley Goodwin, who died from a sudden cardiac event the day after his 35th birthday in 2007.
Ashley’s parents, Linda and Geoff, continue to fundraise to make heart screening more accessible to young people and help prevent further loss of life.
University students, staff and their family members aged between 14 and 34 will be able to undergo an electrocardiogram (ECG), carried out by CRY’s cardiac physiologists and assessed by one of CRY’s specially trained cardiology doctors.
An ECG can help identify conditions including heart muscle disorders and electrical abnormalities in people who may have no symptoms of a cardiac condition. Depending on the results of the ECG, participants may also be offered an ultrasound scan of the heart, known as an echocardiogram, to provide further information about its function and structure.
Where necessary, individuals will be referred to their GP with details of any further tests or investigations that may be required.
Research shows that one in every 300 young people screened by CRY is identified as having a potentially life-threatening heart condition if left untreated or unmonitored.
Eve Scarle (pictured above), Strategic Partnership and Placement Lead in the University’s School of Education, Health and Science, said: “Supporting our students to stay healthy and well is an important part of the experience we want them to have at University of Gloucestershire. That means not only being there when somebody needs help, but also creating opportunities that can help prevent problems and identify risks at an early stage.
“Since we began hosting heart screening days in 2013, students, staff and members of the wider community have discovered underlying heart conditions they had no idea they were living with. That demonstrates just how valuable access to screening can be, and we’re delighted that all 100 places available were quickly booked up.
“We’re extremely pleased to be continuing our collaboration with CRY and the Ashley Goodwin Memorial Fund to make this specialist screening available free of charge to our students, staff and their families.
“Many serious heart conditions in young people have no obvious warning signs, which is why screening can make such an important difference. Identifying a condition early can enable someone to receive the appropriate treatment, monitoring and support and, ultimately, can save lives.
“Our commitment to creating a safe and supportive University community also includes access to 13 defibrillators across our locations in Gloucester and Cheltenham, helping to ensure potentially life-saving equipment is available when it is needed.”