A MAN suffered six heart attacks just hours after doctors told him he was probably suffering from arthritis.

James Shepherd was told he "did not have a heart problem" and was sent home to take paracetamol for the pain.

Now his furious wife Lorna says she is considering legal action against the University Hospital of North Durham.

Mr Shepherd, 56, a quality assistance employee for Bede Scientific, was working in Durham last Tuesday when he began to feel unwell.

He was taken to nearby University Hospital and given a cardiogram test after which Mrs Shepherd says they were told her husband "categorically did not have a heart problem", and it was probably arthritis or rheumatism behind the ribs.

Mrs Shepherd, 43, said that after his release he suffered three more minor heart attacks. He then saw his GP, who told him to return to hospital if he suffered prolonged chest pain.

He went on to have two more heart attacks before he was taken to Wansbeck General Hospital, Ashington, Northumberland, where he was told he had suffered a heart attack.

A spokesman for North Durham Healthcare NHS Trust said: "We are sorry Mrs Shepherd is unhappy with the care her husband received.

"Whenever a person is admitted with chest pains or a suspected heart attack, a number of tests are carried out. If these results show no sign of a heart attack, the patient will be discharged. We have begun a full investigation into what happened."

Mr Shepherd, of Whittingham, Northumberland, is now recovering in hospital.