DESPITE the progress made in combating heart disease, more could be done, according to a report.

The Coronary Prevention group surveyed 28 unidentified cardiac rehabilitation centres in England to assess care received by patients recovering from heart problems or operations.

They found that only one in five services met national standards for staffing levels, "reflecting chronic understaffing affecting both quality of care and staff recruitment and retention".

But the Government said it had transformed heart care services to provide faster and better treatments for patients in recent years.

No one waits more than six months for heart surgery in England, compared with nearly 2,800 people waiting more than six months in March 2000.

One of the Government goals for coronary heart disease was that 85 per cent of eligible patients would be offered cardiac rehabilitation.

However, the report said that only about 30 per cent of eligible patients receive the treatment.

The report also highlighted shortages of key staff in many units, with staffing at about 63 per cent of the recommended level.

While there is still room for improvement in the North-East, the success of Darlington's approach in reducing heart disease deaths has been praised.

Recent figures show a 22 per cent drop in deaths from circulatory disease in three years, one of the best in the UK.

The figures are being put down to a combination of factors in primary and secondary care, including the first rapid-access chest pain clinic in the region.

Other successes include a one-stop heart failure clinic and a long-established cardiac rehabilitation scheme that uses leisure centres to improve the fitness of heart patients.