Dr Allan Harkness

 Professional experience

• More than 25 years of experience
• Consultant cardiologist, The Oaks Hospital, Colchester 
• Divisional Director for Medicine and Emergency Care, East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (2017-23)
• Honorary Consultant cardiologist, The Essex Cardiothoracic Centre
• Consultant cardiologist, Colchester Hospital 
• Clinical lead for cardiology at Colchester Hospital (2010 – 2017)
• Specialist Registrar in Cardiology, The Heart Hospital and Royal Free Hospital (2001 – 2006)

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 Sub-specialties

• Angina
• Arrhythmia
• ASD (Atrial septal defect)
• Atherosclerosis
• Atrial Fibrillation
• Blackouts
• Blood pressure
• Bradycardia
• Cardiac rehabilitation
• Cardiovascular disease
• Cardioversion
• Cholesterol
• Coronary angiography
• Coronary heart disease
• Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Doppler Ultrasound
• Electrocardiogram
• Exercise Stress Test
• Extrasystole
• Faints
• Heart attack
• Heart check up 
• Heart failure 
• Heart murmur 
• Heart problems in cancer patients (Cardio-oncology) 
• Heart valve disease 
• Heart valve replacement 
• Hereditary diseases
• High triglycerides
• Hypercholesterolemia
• Hypertension
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
• Lipid disorders
• Low blood pressure
• Metabolic syndrome
• Missed heart beats
• Mitral regurgitation
• Mitral regurgitation
• Myocarditis
• Patent foramen ovale
• Pericarditis
• Perioperative assessment
• PoTS syndrome
• Preventive Cardiology
• Second medical opinion
• Shortness of breath (dyspnoea)
• Syncope
• Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (broken heart syndrome)
• Thoracic pain
• Valvular heart disease
• Ventricular tachycardia

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 Teaching posts

• Speaks at national training courses on CT coronary angiography and echocardiography
• Trains junior doctors in clinical cardiology, pacemaker implantation, coronary angiography, CT coronary angiography and advanced echocardiography
• Mentors GPs with a Specialist Interest (GPwSPI) in Cardiology
• Offers GPs courses in the diagnosis and management of angina, atrial fibrillation, heart failure, valve disease, ECG interpretation and cardiac imaging
• Mentors nurses in cardiac prescribing

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 Education

• MB ChB Glasgow University (1994)
• Level 2 CT Coronary Angiography, The British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging (2010)
• Accreditation in transthoracic echocardiography, British Society of Echocardiography (2013)
• Accreditation in transoesophageal echocardiography, British Society of Echocardiography (2017)
• MSc in Healthcare Leadership, Birmingham University (2017)

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 Publications and conferences

• A practical guideline for performing a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiogram in the congenital heart disease patient: consensus recommendations from the British Society of Echocardiography (2022)
• The assessment of mitral valve disease: a guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2021)
• BSE and BCOS guideline for transthoracic echocardiographic assessment of adult cancer patients receiving anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab (2021)
• Echocardiographic assessment of aortic stenosis: a practical guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2021) 
• Transthoracic echocardiography of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in adults: a practical guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2021)
• Echocardiographic assessment of the tricuspid and pulmonary valves: a practical guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2020)
• A practical guideline for performing a comprehensive transthoracic echocardiogram in adults: the British Society of Echocardiography minimum dataset (2020)
• Echocardiographic assessment of the right heart in adults: a practical guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2020)
• Normal reference intervals for cardiac dimensions and function for use in echocardiographic practice: a guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2020)
• Echocardiographic assessment of the right heart in adults: a practical guideline from the British Society of Echocardiography (2020)
• Echocardiographic assessment of pulmonary hypertension: a guideline protocol from the British Society of Echocardiography (2018) 
• A guideline update for the practice of echocardiography in the cardiac screening of sports participants: a joint policy statement from the British Society of Echocardiography and Cardiac Risk in the Young (2018) 
• Diagnosis and assessment of dilated cardiomyopathy: a guideline protocol from the British Society of Echocardiography (2017) 
• A safety checklist for transoesophageal echocardiography from the British Society of Echocardiography and the Association of Cardiothoracic Anaesthetists (2015)
• Direct access echocardiography to a district general hospital: are patients being screened appropriately? (2015)
• Stress cardiomyopathy (Takotsubo) following radioactive iodine therapy (2015)
• Impact of methodology and the use of allometric scaling on the echocardiographic assessment of the aortic root and arch: a study by the Research and Audit Sub-Committee of the British Society of Echocardiography (2014)
• Cardiovascular magnetic resonance in cardiac sarcoidosis with MR conditional pacemaker in situ (2013)
• Pedunculated left ventricular thrombus presenting with acute ischaemic limb (2008)
• Morphine for the relief of breathlessness in patients with chronic heart failure--a pilot study (2002)
• Online appointment booking to rapid access chest pain clinic (2000)

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 Prizes and awards

• Level 8 Clinical Excellence Award
• British Society of Echocardiography 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award

 Professional membership

• The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow (Fellow)
• The Royal College of Physicians of London (Fellow)
• The British Society for Heart Failure (Founding member)
• The British Society of Echocardiography (Fellow)
• The British Heart Valve Society
• The British Cardiovascular Society
• The British Society of Cardiovascular Imaging
• The European Society of Cardiology
• The European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging
• The American Society of Echocardiography

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