§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he will take to increase the number of heart operations in 2000. [115114]
§ Yvette CooperHeart disease remains a huge health burden to the country and is the biggest single cause of premature death. That is why on 6 March we launched a radical and far-reaching 10-year programme of action710W to transform the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease. The National Service Framework will help save 200,000 lives by 2010.
As a first step, on 18 October my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced a £50 million boost to cardiac surgery to increase the number of heart operations by 3,000 by April 2002 by making maximum use of the capacity that currently exists in the National Health Service.