Cardiology

About this service

The Royal Cornwall Hospitals Cardiology department looks after patients with acute and chronic heart conditions such as congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart disease, heart failure and people who have had heart attacks.

We offer a wide range of non­surgical Cardiac interventions and services to both in­patients and outpatients. We work closely with GPs, Community Cardiac Nurses, tele­health and Acute care at Home to provide a holistic service for our patients, helping them manage and improve their conditions and daily life.

Inpatients will most likely stay with us in the Cardiac Investigation Unit, a 19-bedded Cardiology Ward.

The Cardiac Catheter Labs

Cardiac catheterisation is widely used to both diagnose and treat patients with known or suspected heart disease.

At the Royal Cornwall Hospital, we have two modern and well equipped Cardiac Catheter Laboratories. Many of our patients attend as day cases and don’t need to stay overnight in hospital.

The labs perform a variety of cardiac procedures, including:

  • Diagnostic coronary procedures
  • Interventional coronary interventions
  • Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) procedures
  • Pacing procedures
  • ICD and Biventricular Pacing
  • Electro physiological (EP) procedures

Our specialist Heart Function nurses

The Royal Cornwall Hospital Heart Function Nursing service provides clinical and educational support for patients who are admitted to hospital with heart failure. We also provide an outpatient rapid-access diagnostic clinic (The Rapid Access Heart Function Clinic). The clinic makes sure patients referred to our service by their GPs undergo appropriate imaging and are provided with a relevant clinical management plan. This ensures that their cardiac condition is identified and managed in a timely way. The team will also refer appropriate patients to the community-based Cardiac Specialist Nurses for ongoing support with condition-related education and clinical management.

Our cardiac chest pain specialist nurses

The Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust Chest Pain Specialist Nursing service provides clinical review and management advice for patients who present to the Royal Cornwall Hospital with chest pain suspected to be cardiac in origin and symptomatic coronary artery disease.

We liaise closely with the emergency medical teams and the cardiology team. We also provide an outpatient rapid-access chest pain assessment service (Rapid-Access Chest Pain Clinic) for patients presenting to their GP or the Emergency Department, with symptoms suggestive for stable angina.

Rehabilitation for patients with Heart Disease

We work with a multidisciplinary team of health professionals to help rehabilitate patients with cardiac disease and support them to achieve and maintain optimal physical and psychosocial health.

This service is run by cardiac nurses, exercise technicians and physiotherapists who provide exercise and educational programmes across Cornwall to people who have had heart surgery or suffered a heart attack.

The rehabilitation service is available in hospital, at home and as an outreach service. We are also supported by pharmacists, dieticians, occupational therapists, heart failure and practice nurses and strongly encourage the involvement of partners, other family members and carers.

Contact information

Cardiac catheter laboratories

Lab telephone: 01872 254625

Heart function nurses

Telephone: 01872 253018
Email: rch-tr.heartfunction@nhs.net

Chest pain nurses

Telephone: 01872 252911
Email: rch-tr.ChestRef@nhs.net

Cardiac rehabilitation

If you are a cardiac inpatient at the moment, please contact:

If you have already been discharged from hospital, please contact:

Where to find us

This service has multiple locations, which may change due to construction work. Your appointment letter will tell you where to go; please read it carefully before attending.

Information about chest pain

This content is supplied by the NHS website nhs.uk

Information about heart failure and heart attacks

This content is supplied by the NHS website nhs.uk

Page last reviewed: 9 May 2023

Alert: Essential maintenance

This site will be unavailable for a period of 15-30 minutes on Monday 12th June 2023, between the hours of 7.30PM to 11.30PM

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