Dr Allan Harkness

Dr Allan Harkness is a highly acclaimed consultant cardiologist, based in Essex and Suffolk, with a special interest in CT coronary angiography and advanced echocardiography. Dr Harkness works privately at the Oaks Hospital, Colchester and the Nash Basildon Private Unit at The Essex Cardiothoracic Centre.

After graduating from the University of Glasgow in 1994, Dr Harkness went on to complete further specialist training in London and Glasgow, gaining accreditation in both general medicine and cardiology. During his research into heart failure, he worked with the British Heart Foundation on a nurse-led community heart failure service which became the NICE-approved standard of care nationwide.  

Dr Harkness has been a consultant cardiologist at Colchester Hospital since 2006 and at the Essex Cardiothoracic Centre since it opened in 2007. In 2010, he became the clinical lead for cardiology at Colchester Hospital, where he has extensively developed their cardiac services. In 2017, he was appointed as Divisional Director for Medicine and Emergency Care for Colchester Hospital for which he served two three-year terms of office, covering the merger with Ipswich Hospital and the Pandemic. In 2013, he was appointed Deputy Associate Medical Director for Patient Safety for the Trust.

Dr Harkness is a core member of the Education Committee of the British Society of Echocardiography and lectures for national training programs. He also developed the BSE app EchoCalc, a key reference guide for cardiac physiologists worldwide. He has contributed to over a dozen national guidelines on echocardiography. For his contribution to education, research, leadership, volunteering and national reputation, he was awarded Fellow of the British Society of Echocardiography in October 2019. In recognition of his service and contribution to the advancement of echocardiography, he was presented with the 2021 BSE Lifetime Achievement Award.