A TEESSIDE nurse has become the first in the country to be appointed to the Heart Rhythm UK Council.

Jayne Mudd, a cardiac rhythm management nurse practitioner at James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, hopes her appointment will help raise the profile of arrhythmia nurses across the country and lead to improvements in services.

Arrhythmia is an abnormality of the heart's rhythm and affects more than 700,000 people in England.

Her appointment has already led to an offer of sponsorship to develop a national educational programme.

She has also been offered sponsorship to attend the Heart Rhythm Society's meeting in New Orleans, and will visit heart centres in the US.