Charles Knight MD FRCP

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

is a British professor of

cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart d ...

and chief executive of St Bartholomew's Hospital, part of Barts Health NHS Trust. In 1994 he assisted in the first percutaneous

alcohol septal ablation Alcohol septal ablation (ASA) is a minimally invasive heart procedure to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). It is a percutaneous, minimally invasive procedure performed by an interventional cardiologist to relieve symptoms and improve fun ...

, a non-surgical method for the treatment of

hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM, or HOCM when obstructive) is a condition in which the heart becomes thickened without an obvious cause. The parts of the heart most commonly affected are the interventricular septum and the ventricles. This r ...

as an alternative to open heart surgery, and subsequently specialised in the procedure. From 2010 he led the development of the Barts Heart Centre at Barts Health NHS Trust which opened in 2015 by merging cardiac services from the

London Chest Hospital The London Chest Hospital, located in Bethnal Green in London, adjacent to Victoria Park, London, Victoria Park, was a hospital with a national reputation for treatment of Heart, cardiac and Lung, pulmonary disease. Since 1999 it had been run by ...

, The Heart Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 2020, Knight was appointed

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

NHS Nightingale Hospital London The NHS Nightingale Hospital London was the first of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals, temporary hospitals set up by NHS England for the COVID-19 pandemic. It was housed in the ExCeL London convention centre in East London. The hospital was rapid ...

, established to care for people during the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. In the same year he was awarded an

for services to the NHS and people with

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

. He is on the list of honorary medical staff at the private

King Edward VII's Hospital King Edward VII's Hospital (formal name: King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes) is a private hospital located on Beaumont Street in the Marylebone district of central London. Agnes Keyser, later known as Sister Agnes, established the hospit ...

Education

Charles Knight trained at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

universities.

Career

In 1994, at the Royal Brompton Hospital, he assisted

Ulrich Sigwart Ulrich Sigwart (; born 9 March 1941) is a German retired cardiologist known for his pioneering role in the conception and clinical use of stents to keep blood vessels open, and introducing a non-surgical intervention, alcohol septal ablation for ...

with the introduction of percutaneous

, a non-surgical method for the treatment of

, as an alternative to open heart surgery. Knight subsequently specialised in the procedure. From 2010 he led the development of the Barts Heart Centre at Barts Health NHS Trust which opened in 2015 by merging cardiac services from the

, The Heart Hospital and St Bartholomew's Hospital to create one of the largest cardiac centres in Europe. In 2015 he was appointed as managing director and then chief executive of St Bartholomew’s Hospital. In March 2020, Knight was appointed

, established to care for people during the

. It was built in nine days with a 4,000 bed capacity. The following month, at a

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society in the United Kingdom, headquartered in London. History The Society was established in 1805 as Medical and Chirurgical Society of London, meeting in two rooms in barristers’ chambers ...

webinar, he stated his concern over the aversion of some people to seek medical attention for problems unrelated to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In April 2021, following Prince Phillip's discharge from Barts, Knight received flowers from the Queen, on behalf of staff at Barts on the anniversary of the first COVID-19 lockdown.

Other roles

He was associate editor of the journal ''

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

'' until 2014, and chair of the London Cardiology Speciality Training Committee. He was a member of the Royal College of Physicians Cardiology Speciality Advisory Committee. From 2008 to 2011 he served as honorary secretary of the

British Cardiovascular Society The British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) is a United Kingdom-wide health organisation based in London. It aims to represent all healthcare professionals working in the field of cardiology, set standards for prevention, diagnosis, and clinical care, ...

, where he had also been a member of its training committee. He is a

trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...

of Barts Heritage, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and is an honorary professor at the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London. Knight works at the private

Awards

In July 2020, he received the Freedom of the City of London for his work during the COVID-19 pandemic. In October 2020, he was awarded an

for services to the NHS and people with

Selected publications

He has published over 100 research papers.

Articles

* (Co-author) * (Co-author) * (Co-author) * (Co-author) * (Co-author)

References

External links

Video of Knight
addressing St. Bart's staff about COVID-19 {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Charles Living people Year of birth missing (living people) British cardiologists Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Oxford Academics of Queen Mary University of London National Health Service people Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians British chief executives Place of birth missing (living people)