The Department of Cardiovascular Sciences works closely with the Cardio-Respiratory Directorate of The University Hospitals of Leicester (UHL) NHS Trust. The Trust provides secondary and tertiary level cardiovascular care for 1.9 million people. The population, which has a significant proportion of ethnic minority individuals of South Asian origin, has a higher than average prevalence of cardiovascular diseases compared with other parts of the UK. The hospital has 377 beds dedicated to the cardiovascular specialities and spends over £40 million directly in cardiovascular care.  In 2007, 4459 angiograms, 2010 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), 1067 CABG/valve procedures and 616 electrophysiological procedures were performed . In many relevant areas of clinical service delivery (cardiology, vascular medicine, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, hypertension, heart failure and stroke medicine) academic staff play a leading role.  Currently, the NHS/University partnership has over 35 senior hospital and University staff engaged in research in the cardiovascular field, with expertise spanning from cardiovascular imaging and intervention to molecular and cellular analysis.