Cardiology

Our cardiology team diagnose and treat diseases and disorders of the heart.

Location: Central Middlesex, Ealing, and Northwick Park Hospitals
Division: Medicine and therapies
General manager: Nataliya Lightfoot-Boston
Service manager: Jermaine Charles

Our cardiology team diagnose and treat diseases and disorders of the heart. Our cardiovascular service is based across Central Middlesex, Ealing, Northwick Park and St Marks Hospitals.

Our service includes:

• an inpatient and outpatient service
• a cardiac catheter laboratory
• cardiac investigations (including echocardiogram and angiogram)
• cardiac prevention and rehabilitation
• a cardiac arrhythmia service
• a heart failure service
• a cardiology research team.

A team of interventional, imaging, heart failure and device consultants lead this service.

Our team care for a range of conditions:

• Coronary heart disease (including angina)
• Acute coronoary syndromes
• Heart failure
• Myocardial infarction
• Atrial fibrillation
• Cardiac arrest
• Heart attack
• Abnormal heart rhythm
• Arrhythmia
• Cardiovascular disease
• Endocarditis
• Heart valve disease
• Palpitations
• Pericarditis

You may be admitted to our heart failure virtual ward if you have been:

• admitted to hospital with heart failure two or more times and
• seen by one of our cardiology specialist doctors or nurses.

Through the virtual ward, you can self-report your symptoms from home. This helps you to avoid a hospital stay, or allows you to return home sooner after a hospital stay.

If you're admitted to our virtual ward, our team will ask you to monitor your symptoms. You may be asked to report your:

• blood pressure
• heart rate
• weight.

In some cases, you may need to take some equipment home to monitor your symptoms. In these circumstances, the team will provide you with the right equipment for you.

You report your results using a purpose-built phone app, Luscii App.

Our heart failure specialist nurses will monitor the information and symptoms you report using the app. They will contact you if:

• you need any changes to your medication
• they have any concerns about your health which may need immediate attention. In these circumstances, they will arrange for you to have a physical review with one of our clinical team.

For urgent or emergency care

Our heart failure virtual ward doesn't provide emergency care.

If you need quick access to medical attention, or you need help outside normal working hours, you should dial 111.

In an emergency, always dial 999.

At Northwick Park Hospital, the cardiac research department conducts trials and studies in the development of cardiac imaging, medical therapy, hyperlipidaemias and interventional cardiology. We take part in many multinational studies as part of our ongoing commitment to research and development. The department have become global leaders in some of these trials.

At Ealing Hospital, our research team is made up of doctors, nurses and healthcare assistants. We are currently carrying out research as part of the London Life Sciences population study, or LOLIPOP.

Contact our cardiology team:

• at Central Middlesex Hospital: 020 8963 7134
• at Ealing Hospital: 020 8967 5290
• at Northwick Park and St Mark's Hospitals: 020 8869 2552

Heartlink: a local charity providing advice and support to people living with heart conditions.

You will need a referral from your GP for most cardiology services, including outpatient clinic appointments, tests and rapid access chest pain clinic.

In an emergency, or if you suspect you might be having a heart attack, dial 999 for an ambulance or go to the Accident and Emergency Department (A&E) in the usual way. You will be referred to the cardiology department if you have cardiac problems.