Top cardiologists to open independent healthy heart clinic

One of the UK’s leading heart doctors is set to open the North West region’s first independent healthy heart clinic.

Dr Scott Murray, former president of the British Association for Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation (BACPR) and consultant cardiologist at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, is launching Venturi Cardiology in Birchwood, Warrington, this Spring.

Venturi was created by Scott and three like-minded cardiologist friends.

The state-of-the-art heart screening clinic has been backed with a £1.2m investment from the Singapore-based Briley Group.

The clinic will create 10 jobs during its first two years of operation.

Venturi’s mission is to make world-class heart care accessible, affordable and more personalised. In the same way that a mammogram is given as standard for women over 50, or with a family history, Venturi wants heart testing to be a standard procedure for those patients most at risk.

As well as providing routine diagnostic cardiology services, Venturi’s primary objective is to treat the cause of heart disease, currently the UK’s biggest killer. Every 25 minutes someone in the North West dies from heart or circulatory disease, with healthcare costs relating to these diseases estimated at £9bn each year.

Dr Murray, who was inspired to become a cardiologist after his grandfather died suddenly of a heart attack, said: “Every year, over 100,000 people in the UK die of sudden cardiac arrest, and yet so much of our heart health is driven by what we eat, how we move and through lifestyle choices – factors that are all within our control.

“I see people every day who, if they had received a heart scan five years before, could have been treated or potentially may have been given that push to really change their lifestyle and turn their life around.”

Dr Sam Srivastava, a founding clinician, said: “Our goal is to speed up treatment for patients, save lives and help to offload some of the pressures on the NHS.
“We are also looking at growing our team and expanding our services to include other health care requirements.”

Dr Hasleton, a specialist interventional cardiologist and founding consultant at Venturi, said: “The investment from Briley has allowed us to buy a new CT scanner and Echocardiography machine to set up a state-of-the-art clinic which will be readily accessible to the M6 and M62 corridor, Liverpool, Manchester, Cheshire and beyond.”

Shalom Benaim, non-executive director, said “Venturi will bring real benefits to patients in the North West as well as further afield. We help great businesses grow and Venturi very much fits the bill – a real need, a compelling business case, and a team of experts and a management team available to deliver this world-class service where it is really needed – to save lives.”