The cardiac physiology service provides broad range of diagnostic tests and treatments to adult patients. We perform approximately 78,000 investigations each year for both outpatients and inpatients. The department is actively involved in the training of student cardiac physiologists; therefore, a student may perform or observe your test under supervision (your consent for this will be obtained prior to the start of any test).

Clinics and specialties

We perform the following investigations in outpatient diagnostics:

• Electrocardiography - including 24, 48, 72 hour and 7 day monitoring, blood pressure monitoring and signal-averaged ECG
• Echocardiogram, including (but not limited to): transthoracic echocardiography, transoesophageal echocardiography, stress echocardiography, valve clinics and transplant & LVAD assessment
• Exercise tolerance testing
• Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
• Tilt table testing
• Six minute walking tests and shuttle walking tests
• Routine pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronisation therapy follow up

We also perform the following investigations in invasive cardiology:

• Left and right heart catheterisation
• Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)
• Structural interventions including adult congenital heart disease and trans-aortic valve implantation
• Routine pacemaker, implantable cardioverter defibrillator and cardiac resynchronisation therapy implantation
• Electrophysiology studies and ablation for supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation and ventricular tachycardia
• Cardiac biopsy
• Mechanical circulatory support device implant, including impella and intra-aortic balloon pump

You can find online versions of our patient information leaflets covering many of these procedures via the link at the end of this page.

The Team

You may come into contact with different members of staff in the cardiology department. These include:

• Administrators, who book patient appointments and deal with many queries
• Cardiographers, who carry out diagnostic electrocardiograms and ambulatory monitor fitting
• Associate cardiac practitioners, who carry out analysis of ambulatory monitors and assist with exercise testing and home monitoring device patients
• Cardiac physiologists, professionals qualified to graduate level who work predominantly with adult patients and who carry out the majority of investigations and procedures in the outpatients department. Cardiac physiologists work alongside other medical staff to carry out invasive procedures in the cardiac cath labs.

Contact information

The outpatient cardiology department is open from 08:00 – 18:00, Monday to Friday.

We also provide a 24-hour on call service for primary PCI (patients presenting with a heart attack).

For full contact details, please see our 'Contact cardiac physiology' page via the link at the end of this page.

Where to find us

Cardiac physiology is located within the Main Atrium of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham in Area 3, Outpatients, Reception 2.

If you are unsure of how to find us, staff at the main reception desk in the Main Atrium will be available to assist you.

You can find details of how to get to the hospital via the link below.