OXFORD’s new £29m heart centre is about to open its doors to patients.

Doctors, nurses and equipment will move into the new centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Headington, over the weekend, before the building opens to patients on Monday.

Up to 20,000 patients a year are treated for heart conditions at the hospital and the centre will allow staff to treat many more.

The Oxford Heart Centre has been built next to existing cardiac facilities and close to the accident and emergency department and the Oxford Children's Hospital.

The city’s £109m cancer centre opened at the Churchill Hospital earlier this year.

Alison Barnes, a spokesman for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We’re really excited that staff and patients are finally moving into the heart centre.

“The building has been years in the planning stage and visitors to the site over the past two years will have seen it going up brick-by-brick.

“Now, after months of planning and preparation, we will be opening the doors to patients and everyone is thrilled.”

Facilities will include: Five catheter laboratories, for diagnosing and treating heart problems, and for monitoring patients undergoing cardiology treatment; Fifty single rooms for patients in two wards; Nineteen intensive care and high-dependency beds for cardiac patients; And dedicated space for medical teaching and for research into new treatments for heart disease.

The centre is set to become a regional NHS centre of excellence, offering a wide range of specialist services.

These will include a 24-hour centre for patients with suspected heart attacks.