A PIONEERING heart service has been shortlisted for a national award.

Darlington Primary Care Trust launched its community cardiac rehabilitation programme in October 2001, and it has gone on to help nearly 300 people suffering from angina.

The scheme has been selected as a finalist in the Health and Social Care Awards, a Department of Health-led initiative which will see winners unveiled on Tuesday, July 1.

If successful, the trust could win £15,000 to further develop the service.

The trust's head of health improvement, Linda Bailes, said: "This has given the staff involved the opportunity to be at the forefront of developing a quality service for patients and carers that meets national requirements and local needs."

More than 10,000 people in Darlington suffer from coronary heart disease - a gradual blocking of the arteries to the heart with the fatty deposit artheroma.