Dr Girish Viswanathan

Dr Girish Viswanathan is a consultant cardiologist in Plymouth, Devon, who specialises in chest pain, shortness of breath and hypertension, alongside angioplasty, coronary artery disease and preventive cardiology. He privately practises at Nuffield Health Plymouth Hospital  and Peninsula Heart Clinic, while he is a consultant interventional cardiologist at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust.

Dr Viswanathan completed his medical degree at Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University in 1997, followed by postgraduate training in internal medicine at Madras Medical College. He pursued further medical training in the UK, obtaining MRCP (UK) and completing higher specialist cardiology training in Wales in 2012. He then undertook an advanced coronary intervention fellowship in Bournemouth before taking up his consultant role in Plymouth in 2014.

His expertise includes managing simple and complex coronary artery disease, performing coronary angioplasty and stent procedures, and using advanced techniques such as intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fractional flow reserve (FFR). He has performed over 800 coronary interventions at Derriford Hospital, with nationally reported outcomes demonstrating lower-than-expected mortality rates and complications. His cases are regularly used for teaching at international meetings.

In addition to his clinical work, Dr Viswanathan serves as the departmental lead for clinical governance at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust. He oversees the performance of the regional primary PCI service, ensuring high standards of care and data quality for national audits. Under his leadership, Derriford Hospital achieved the highest survival rates in the South West for patients admitted with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Dr Viswanathan is also committed to medical education. He teaches medical and dental students at Plymouth University, supervises cardiac physiology students and physician associates, and trains junior doctors for MRCP exams. He also provides specialist training for senior cardiology trainees aiming to develop expertise in coronary intervention.

His areas of special interest also include heart valve disease, diabetic cardiology, and heart failure. He is highly skilled in performing complex coronary interventions, including chronic total occlusion (CTO) procedures and advanced imaging techniques to assess and treat coronary artery disease.

He is a member of various professional organisations, including the Britsh Cardiac Society, the Royal College of Physicians and the British Cardiac Intervention Society, as well as the European Cardiac Society.