Shirebrook man saved by quick thinking staff at GP practice

Dr Sunil Thomas and colleagues were praised by Dr Will Smith, a consultant at Nottingham City Hospital, for resuscitating Miroslaw Czerwinski, of Central Drive, Shirebrook.

The practice restarted Mr Czerwinski’s heart with a defibrillator after he had suffered a heart attack.

Dr Smith paid tribute to Dr Thomas for correctly diagnosing Mr Czerwinski’s heart attack, even though an ECG in the Main Street Surgery had revealed only “very subtle signs.”

In a letter to senior partner Dr Elizabeth Barrett, Dr Smith said that prompt treatment had ensured the patient, originally from Poland, was well enough by the time he reached hospital to undergo surgery that reopened a major artery and restored blood flow to a large area of his heart.

Dr Smith said: “Not only has prompt action in your practice saved this man’s life, it has also allowed him to benefit from timely surgery which I hope will save him from a life of dealing with heart failure.

“His management in primary care is worthy of particular commendation.

“Mr Czerwinski spoke almost no English at all so his clinical assessment, I am sure, would have been challenging.”

Dr Thomas has been at the practice since 1988. He and his fellow practitioners were also saluted by Dr Steve Lloyd, Chair of NHS Hardwick Clinical Commissioning Group, which has been responsible since April for planning and buying health services for 16 GP practices.