A SERVICE that has helped hundreds of cardiac patients to overcome their fear of heart problems and has given them back a quality of life is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

Annette Turner, the first nurse to join the Cardiac Rehabilitation Service, in Hartlepool, said: "There is now a long-term, structured follow-up service for heart attack patients.

"Patients are supported in the home, or at their local surgery, with nurses and the coronary heart disease rehabilitation team working together to provide ongoing care and to monitor each patient's progress.

"I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who is or has been involved, for all the help and hard work they have given the service over the last ten years.

"It is down to the team approach that it has grown and developed into what we have today."