Centre to stop '1,800 heart attacks a year'

THE world's first emergency service to stop patients with chest pains having a heart attack will be launched in London.

Patients will be sent directly from A&E units across the capital to the centre at the London Chest hospital in Bethnal Green.

There they will be tested and given treatment.

The service, to be launched in April, aims to prevent around 1,800 heart attacks a year. Professor Martin Rothman, senior cardiologist at Barts and The London Heart and Chest Centre, said: "Patients will still go to their local hospital A&E department with chest pains. What's new is that those at high risk will then be transported here immediately to assess their heart."

If arteries are found to be blocked angioplasty can be given, which uses a balloon-like device to open up the artery.

Treated patients should be able to go home within 48 hours.