NGH becomes centre of excellence for leadless pacemakers

Northampton General Hospital pacemaker team presentation photo

A team that implants tiny state-of-the-art leadless pacemakers at Northampton General Hospital has been recognised for its work by being designated an international centre of excellence.

On October 14 Northampton Heart Centre received the honour for the way it has pioneered delivering both the leadless pacemaker fitting procedure itself - and for training other teams from around the UK in how to deliver the procedure and produce the best results for patients.

Leadless pacemakers are at the cutting edge of heart rhythm treatments and are 93% smaller than traditional pacemakers and weigh less than 2 grams in weight.

They are implanted inside the right ventricle of the heart and remain undetected to the human eye, unlike traditional pacemakers that are often seen and felt under the surface of the skin.

The centre of excellence designation has been bestowed by Medtronic – the company which supplies this kind of leadless pacemaker worldwide – and it means NGH joins a select group of hospitals across Europe that have the designation.

Medtronic’s Vice President of Pacing Therapies, Nicolas Pivert, visited NGH from France on October 14, to present the hospital with a plaque in honour of its designation in person.

He said: “The Heart Centre at Northampton General Hospital has been a pioneer in the UK for delivering leadless pacemakers to its patients and for training NHS teams from across the country in how to do this well.

“We are delighted to make the hospital one of our centres of excellence in Europe which is a high honour only achieved by a relatively small number of hospitals.”

NGH has been a pioneer in fitting leadless pacemakers since 2016 and in 2024 became the first hospital Trust in the UK to use the latest form, a Medtronic Micra™AV2. It has fitted about 300 patients with the pacemakers since 2016 and trained NHS staff from all over Britain on the best way to establish the procedure in their hospitals.

NGH Consultant Cardiologist, Dr David Sharman, was the clinician who implanted the hospital’s first device in 2016.

He said: “This kind of pacemaker is the future for pacemakers. It has many advantages including 50% less complications than conventional pacemakers and a technological life span of up to 17 years before it needs to be replaced, removing traditional pacemaker lead complications and massively reducing infection risks.

“Delivering the best results requires an understanding of how to deliver the procedure, which patients benefit most from leadless pacing and how to ensure your teams have the right education and training.

“We have been training specialist nurses, cardiac physiologists and radiographers, from across the country in how to deliver this procedure in the best possible way.

“We are absolutely delighted that Medtronic have now included us within a select group of hospitals in Europe that provides this level of care and support.”

The pacemaker is fitted in a procedure lasting about 20 minutes and can transform lives and give patients with heart problems peace of mind.

The Northampton Heart Centre team receive a plaque from Medtronic’s Vice President of Pacing Therapies, Nicolas Pivert, on their designation as a centre of excellence.

The Medtronic Micra AV2 leadless pacemaker device itself