Heart patients at Watford General Hospital can now benefit from the very latest life-saving technique after the arrival of one of the country’s leading cardiac surgeons.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Anthony Nathan, who arrived just three weeks ago to the hospital’s new heart attack centre, has brought with him a cutting-edge procedure capable of saving dozens of lives a year – the implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD).

The tiny electronic device, supplied by Watford-based firm Medtronic, allows the rhythm of a patient’s heart to be regulated and monitored by doctors. Fitted under a patient’s shoulder muscles, the tiny box controls a series of wires rigged to the heart muscle, delivering tiny electric shocks to correct potentially dangerous fluctuations to the heart’s rhythm – mostly without the patient even realising.

In extreme cases the ICD can deliver a shock of up to 700 volts to effectively reset a dying heart and save a patient’s life. In the majority of cases, however, it offers the patient a healthy new life.

Dr Nathan, who was tempted away from the London’s world famous St Bartholomew’s Hospital to join the Watford General’s new Acute Admissions Unit (AAU), said up to 100 people a year could benefit from the treatment.

He told the Watford Observer: “This is remarkable technology we can use to treat a range of conditions. When I started my career 30 years ago there was nothing like this available for people with serious heart conditions.

“Now they are able to live a relatively normal life. So far we’ve fitted two in my first three weeks. A lot of patients are obviously very worried about the procedure but most of them will never feel it working.”

Dr Nathan, a 56-year-old father-of-two from Northwood, was also full of praise for the new facilities at the AAU. He said: “A lot of people have asked me why I would want to come from a big famous teaching hospital like St Bartholomew’s to a smaller provincial one like Watford. My answer is simply the quality of what has been built here.

“It’s a very impressive unit full of fantastic and dedicated staff. This is fundamentally a happy and very good hospital and I have been so impressed by its go-getting approach.

“This is great new challenge for me and everybody at the hospital.”