A SPECIALIST nurse has been taken on to help to combat the scourge of heart disease in Derwentside.

Nicola Glenndinning has been appointed by Derwentside Primary Care Trust as the latest member of its coronary heart disease team.

The district has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the UK, inherited from the work-hard, play-hard ethic of the mining communities that were once its backbone.

Recent figures show that instances of heart disease were 41pc higher than the national average. Around 200 people in the district suffer heart attacks each year.

Ms Glenndinning said: "I am finding my role as cardiac rehabilitation support nurse extremely challenging and very exciting as this is a big change for me.

"I am a specialist hospital nurse and have a vast range of experience in cardiology. I am now able to use those skills and expertise to provide specialist advice to the people of Derwentside who have been newly diagnosed and are recovering from heart-related disease."

Her role includes giving specialist advice for people on the road to recovery following a heart attack.

She said: "Often a change in lifestyle, including diet and smoking, can dramatically improve the health of patients.

"This in turn can prevent angina leading to a heart attack or prevent a second heart attack occurring."

It is the latest in a series of appointments made by the PCT to tackle the problem. Over the past three years, the nursing team has set up Healthy Heart clinics at doctors' surgeries across the district, aiming to reduce the risk of someone with heart disease from suffering other heart-related illnesses.

The nurses have been working with the cardiac rehabilitation unit at the University Hospital of North Durham.

Coronary heart disease nurse co-ordinator Nancye Carr said: "Nicola's role is to provide support and advice to patients with heart disease.

"Nicola links with GP practices in the Derwentside area and will visit patients in their own homes.

"There is a high incidence of heart disease in the Derwentside area and we hope to reduce this in patients at highest risk by inviting them to clinics and classes run by our team."