The ‘Your Heart Matters’ bus is touring the country to offer free health care checks to spot heart valve disease and raise awareness of the condition which is one of ‘Britain’s biggest killers’.

Heart valve disease affects one in every 45 people with tens of thousands having the condition without knowing it.

Patients experience fatigue, shortness of breath, loss of consciousness, and if left untreated, severe aortic stenosis, the most common form of heart valve disease, is fatal within two years of diagnosis.

To raise awareness of heart valve disease amongst the UK population and to promote the need for stethoscope checks by GPs, Valve For Life and The Your Heart Matters bus is hitting the road and stopping in Blackpool today (August 23).

In Blackpool, around 27,000 people are living with heart and circulatory disease, and around 4,600 people have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. A common abnormal heart rhythm or arrhythmia.

The bus will be located in Bickerstaff Square from 10am to 3pm where medics will be offering free five-minute stethoscope checks to help spot serious heart conditions.

Dr Andrew Wiper, consultant interventional cardiologist at Spire Fylde Coast Hospital, Blackpool said: “The buses have helped educate the nation on the symptoms of heart valve disease. It has shone a spotlight on the condition, improved peoples understanding of it and saved many lives.

“I’m very hopeful we will raise a lot more awareness in Blackpool on Wednesday. We’ll have cardiologists and nurses on board all day.”

To date 2,750 people have visited the bus in 10 UK cities, and an undiagnosed heart condition has been discovered in more than one in 10 of bus visitors, with three people sent directly to A&E for urgent treatment.

Dr Jonathan Byrne, Interventional Cardiologist at Kings College Hospital NHS Trust and director of the UK Valve for Life programme said: “Cardiac conditions picked up have included severe aortic stenosis, unstable angina and abnormal heart rhythms.

"When a condition is picked up, we then provide the public with letters for their GPs so they can be referred to their local cardiology departments for further investigation and treatment.

“A face-to-face stethoscope examination is the most straightforward method to detect key characteristic associated with valve disease¬ – a heart murmur. This condition, if left untreated, can have life-threatening consequences.”

Robert Fowler, 87, had heart checks when he visited the bus last summer and was referred to his local cardiology team. He had a heart procedure called TAVI (a newer alternative to open heart surgery) in February.

He said: “…I’ve since been checked over and my readings look good. I’m doing daily exercises, taking days out with my wife and no funny turns.

“I feel so lucky, as had I not got on the bus my heart problem could have got a lot worse, like a stroke or heart attack. I would urge anyone to visit the bus – you might find something that could save your life.”