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Blair admitted to hospital



brighton rock

New member
Jul 5, 2003
4,430
lancing
Blair admitted to hospital


Mr Blair is now back in Downing Street
The prime minister was admitted to hospital at lunchtime on Sunday suffering from an irregular heart beat.

Downing Street has confirmed that Tony Blair first went to London's Stoke Mandeville Hospital from his Chequers residence after complaining of feeling "a little under the weather".

He was advised to go London's Hammersmith Hospital, where it was established he had an irregular heartbeat

BBC correspondent Clarence Mitchell said Mr Blair, who is 50, was kept in for five to six hours.

He underwent a series of tests but later returned home to Downing Street where he was said to be feeling "fine".

Doctors established that he had an irregular heart beat which causes fluctuations and palpitations.

A procedure known as a cardio conversion was carried out, our correspondent said.

Commons statement

A Downing Street spokesman said: "This was completely successful and he is now back at Number 10.

"The hospital says this is a relatively common condition and is easily treated.

"He has suffered no damage and he is fine. There is no reason why this should reoccur. They have advised him to rest for 24 hours."

The spokesman said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw would make a statement in the Commons on Monday on the EU summit in place of Mr Blair.

But Mr Blair would hold meetings during the day and be back at his desk full-time on Tuesday morning.


Acute admission

Senior hospital sources have told the BBC that Mr Blair was admitted suffering from supra ventricular tachycardia - a condition where the sufferer feels very unwell, with serious heart irregularities and shortness of breath.

It is understood the father-of-four was an acute admission, as the condition needs to be dealt with quickly, rather than by appointment.


I very much hope he makes a swift recovery and I send him and his family all best wishes at this difficult time

Iain Duncan Smith

Medical sources say a sufferer would have been treated either with chemicals or an electric shock to rectify their heartbeat quickly.

They would then have been kept in hospital for some hours to assess their response.

Mr Blair has been under a great deal of stress in recent months, particularly after the strains of the war in Iraq.



But it is not known how much this contributed to his condition.


Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith has sent his best wishes to Mr Blair.

In a statement, he said: "I was very sorry to hear that the Prime Minister was taken ill today and was briefly admitted to hospital.

"I very much hope he makes a swift recovery and I send him and his family all best wishes at this difficult time."

'Burdens of office'

Michael Gove, of The Times, told BBC News that the Prime Minister is in good shape, although he is undoubtedly under a lot of pressure.

"Mr Blair is pretty fit. He hasn't smoked a cigarette since the day he was married, he works out relatively regularly, and he eats a remarkably health diet.

"But it is the case that he does have to juggle a variety of pressures; not just the pressures of office, but also those related to having a relatively young family with whom he wants to spend as much time with as possible.

"And living above the shop as he does, living in the complex of 10 and 11 Downing Street, it's very difficult for someone in his position to switch off from the cares and burdens of office."
 




Beach Hut

Brighton Bhuna Boy
Jul 5, 2003
72,225
Living In a Box
Bet he didn't have to wait in casualty to be seen.
 


Bwian

Kiss my (_!_)
Jul 14, 2003
15,898
Beach Hut said:
Bet he didn't have to wait in casualty to be seen.

You're probably right-people with chest pains or heart problems get seen immediately. Regardless of who they are or which hospital they go to.
 








Gwylan

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
31,724
Uffern
They spent five hours looking for his heart before they realised that he didn't have one. :)
 


MRRF 10

New member
Get well wishes have flooded in for Prime Minister Tony Blair after he was treated in hospital for a heart problem.

Mr Blair, 50, required electro-cardiac treatment to regulate heart palpitations that came on top of an exceptionally stressful year over the Iraq war.

He was released and pronounced fit after nearly five hours' of treatment at The Hammersmith Hospital in London but has been ordered to rest up.

The Prime Minister is embarking on a series of meetings at Downing Street but has been pulled out of making a statement to the House of Commons on the European summit.

"There is no reason why this should reoccur. He will be back full-time at his desk on Tuesday morning," a Downing Street spokesman said.

Mr Blair was at Chequers, his country home, when he began to feel ill.

He was first taken to Stoke Mandeville hospital in Buckinghamshire and eventually taken to west London where doctors regulated his heart beat via electric shock.

The condition, called Supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, is often described as an electrical short-circuiting of the heart.

It can happen in an otherwise healthy person and can stop as quickly as it starts, giving the sufferer a fright but leaving them unharmed.

Mr Blair returned "well and in good spirits" to Downing Street, the spokesman said.

He has no history of heart problems and is known to be a vitamin-popping fitness enthusiast who plays tennis, works out regularly on a treadmill and even joined President George W Bush for a gym session on a recent trip.

Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith said: "I was very sorry to hear that the Prime Minister was taken ill and was briefly admitted to hospital.

"I very much hope he makes a swift recovery and I send him and his family all best wishes at this difficult time."

Shadow First Minister of the Scottish Parliament and Scottish National Party leader John Swinney said Mr Blair had his "very best wishes" and those of the SNP for a quick recovery.

"I was heartened to hear that he was only in hospital for a very short time and can only hope that he will be returned to full health swiftly," he said.

Tony Blair's constituency also wished him a speedy recovery.

Mr Blair's Labour Party agent John Burton said he had spoke to Mr Blair's wife Cherie and that the PM was fine

Mr Burton, who runs day-to-day affairs for the Prime Minister at his constituency, said: "I have spoken to Cherie and Tony's fine.

"He went into hospital and had some treatment and now he is fine.

"We are close family friends, we just asked after Tony. We were talking about him as just Tony not as the Prime Minister."

With his popularity ratings in a slump due to the messy aftermath of the Iraq war, some speculated Mr Blair would benefit from public sympathy over his heart problem.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will take his place later to give a statement to parliament on the European Union.

Mr Blair took over the Labour Party when his predecessor John Smith died of a heart attack in 1994.

He won the 1997 General Election to take office as Britain's youngest Prime Minister since 1812.
 


rrruss

Wandering Seagull
Brighton fans say "Get Well Soon Tony"

.....coz we can't afford to have Mr Prescott's mind on other things at the moment can we?

Come on Jon, have a heart and give us Falmer.
 




Marc

New member
Jul 6, 2003
25,267
Is he dead yet?......no you say?




shame :angry:
 




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