Wessex Cardiac Unit

The Wessex Cardiac Centre is a Centre of Excellence for cardiac care in the UK

The Wessex Cardiac Unit at Southampton General Hospital is one of the largest and most reputable cardiac centres in the UK. Established in 1972, it serves a population of around 2.8 million. (http://heartsurgery.cqc.org.uk)

Information from the Wessex Cardiac Centre (http://www.heartbeat.co.uk/wessex-cardiac-centre-profile)

Whilst the day to day running costs of the centre are met by the Southampton University Hospital Trust, the needs of the unit often go beyond the finance available to it. So in order to be able to offer the most effective treatments and very best facilities to patients and their relatives, the centre relies on charitable donations and this is where the money raised by Wessex Heartbeat comes in. Internationally renowned, the centre is one of the largest and most successful in the UK with a geographical catchment area covering most of central southern England, Devon, Cornwall and the Channel Islands and serving a population of around 2.8 million people. Every year it treats over 20,000 patients for all forms of serious heart conditions. In addition to the high quality service it gives to adults, it is internationally renowned for the treatment of children and adolescents born with congenital heart disorders. Almost 1,000 children are admitted every year, 250 of whom undergo surgery.

The centre is housed in the £60m state-of-the-art North Wing, at Southampton General Hospital. Opened in 2007, it includes cutting edge catheter labs, a specialist cardiac intensive care unit and a dedicated cardiac MRI scanner.