Spire Nottingham Hospital invests £1.1m in new cardiac service

• First cardiac patient at Spire Nottingham received heart bypass surgery
• Over 100 cardiac patients to be cared for every year
• Spire Nottingham Hospital is rated Outstanding by the Care Quality Commission

Spire Nottingham Hospital, in Tollerton Nottinghamshire, has launched The Spire Midlands Heart Hub, expanding its offering of cardiac surgery, backed by £1.1m of new investment. Gregory Beal, an oil rig worker from Loughborough, is recovering with his family after a successful heart bypass procedure – Gregory was the hospital’s first of six cardiac surgery patients to have used this service so far.

Since opening in 2017, Spire Nottingham Hospital has hosted a team of leading cardiologists who have developed a well-established and respected interventional cardiology service. With the growing demand for cardiac surgery in the Midlands area, Spire Healthcare has invested in additional expertise and technology to perform more complex life-saving surgeries like Gregory’s coronary artery bypass. With this investment of £1.1m, Spire Nottingham Hospital aims to treat over 100 patients each year, from across the Midlands region. The hospital hopes to roll the service out more widely in time, also covering NHS patients.

Spire Nottingham is the fifth Spire Hospital to offer cardiac surgery.

Natasha Young, Spire Nottingham Hospital Director said: “We are pleased to have so far cared for six cardiac patients. Gregory, our very first cardiac surgery patient who required a heart bypass, is recovering well, and we are confident in our ability to offer this life-saving treatment to more patients. Setting up the cardiac surgery programme is important for Spire Nottingham Hospital and the community we serve. It builds on the existing, well established cardiology service and now means we can offer surgical treatment for patients in addition to the diagnostic and interventional cardiology service we provide. This expands the overall capacity for the treatment of a wide range of conditions and crucially provides additional facilities in theatre and critical care for patients in Nottingham, Leicester and beyond.”

Three leading cardiac consultants; Mr Giovanni Mariscalco, Mr Leon Hadji-Nikolaou and Mr Adam Szafranek now practise at Spire Nottingham Hospital and lead this new cardiac service. The £1.1m investment has been used to purchase state-of-the-art equipment for use in theatre and to increase the capability of their existing specialist five-bed critical care unit. Furthermore, Spire Nottingham has also recruited a cardiac surgery lead practitioner and expanded its team of critical care resident doctors and nursing teams with extensive experience cardiac surgery.

The Spire Midlands Heart Hub provides people needing cardiac surgery with fast access to care through Spire Nottingham Hospital’s collaborative network of cardiology and cardiac consultants. Patients can be referred from their initial consultation to investigations and ultimately cardiac surgery all in one place if required. Spire Nottingham Hospital joins four other Spire hospitals offering cardiac surgery.

Gregory Beal came to Spire Nottingham to have investigations when he was experiencing angina. Gregory’s job as part of a core crew on offshore oil rigs, required him to travel up and down the country. During those travels, he started to experience episodes of breathlessness, describing a strange chest pain feeling. Although he describes the sensation as more uncomfortable than painful, he believed that it was probably normal and a part of getting older.

Gregory Beal, Spire Nottingham Hospital's first cardiac surgery patient at The Spire Midlands Heart Hub, and Mr Adam Szafranek, one of three leading cardiac consultants

After a visit to his GP, he discovered that he was experiencing angina, which is chest pain or discomfort when the heart is not receiving enough oxygen-rich blood. After having already been a patient at Spire, Gregory decided to continue using Spire due to the excellent care he received previously. Through his private medical insurance, Gregory booked a consultation with a cardiologist at Spire Nottingham Hospital and, following an echocardiogram, CT scan and an angiogram, it was confirmed that he needed heart bypass surgery and in August 2023 would become Spire Nottingham Hospital’s first cardiac surgery patient.

Gregory Beal said: “The treatment that I have had has been second to none at Spire Nottingham Hospital. The personal approach of everyone I met at Spire Nottingham and the genuine kindness and care is something I am very thankful for.”

Gregory is pleased with the outcome of his surgery and is recovering well. He and his family are now looking forward to quickly getting back to daily life and watching the football, which he enjoys going to.