WAITING times for life-saving heart tests have been slashed by four-and-a-half months after a laboratory opened at Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Before the £2.2m cardiac catheter unit opened, patients with suspected heart disease had to wait an average of six months for an appointment - and then face a long trip to Newcastle or Middlesbrough.

But since the unit opened in Darlington just over a week ago, the waiting time has fallen to less than six weeks.

Patients across the south of County Durham have already benefited because they are able to get the vital tests at their local hospital.

The lab cost £1.5m to build and £700,000 to equip.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Jerry Murphy said it was part of an overall strategy to improve heart services and would undoubtedly benefit patients.

"We have some of the highest rates of heart disease in England, so it is important that we offer swift access to diagnosis, so that if treatment is required, delays are minimised.

"Patients throughout south Durham will benefit from the launch of this unit," he said.

It is the second cardiac catheter laboratory opened by the County Durham and Darlington Acute Hospitals Trust over the past two months as part of a county-wide programme to improve services.

The other unit, at the University Hospital of North Durham, saw its first patients in October.

The Darlington unit was developed in close consultation local primary care trusts and patients.

The trusts will fund the £800,000 a year it will cost to run the service.

The funding for the specialist x-ray equipment in the unit comes from the New Opportunities Fund, which distributes money from the National Lottery. Trust chief executive John Saxby said: "We expect the new cardiac catheter laboratories at Durham and Darlington to make a big difference to the length of time that patients have to wait for diagnosis.

"It will help the trust offer an excellent service to patients at a hospital near to their home."