Cash: Milburn

The health secretary has announced a £100 million fund to increase heart operations - but hospitals will have to bid for the cash.

Alan Milburn said on Wednesday that the money could lead to an extra 4000 operations taking place in hospitals that can do the extra work.

Hospitals will have to compete for the funding which has in the past meant health trusts that are less effective at bidding have lost out.

Patients that are prepared to travel to different parts of the country will also be treated quicker, the minister revealed.

The new money is aimed at meeting the government's pledge to give heart patients who have waited more than six months for their operation a choice of being treated in their local hospital or elsewhere if it is quicker.

Milburn hopes to cut the waiting time for heart treatment to a maximum of nine months as a result of the new approach.

Private and overseas hospitals with spare capacity will also be used to help meet the target..

Milburn said the initiative was one of the first examples where the government will cut out the "middle men" by paying the money direct to the hospitals rather than going through regional authorities.

The new programme will be run through a central clearing house - the National Cardiac Coordination Unit (NCCU).

It will match up patient demand for heart surgery with spare capacity in the NHS.

"Heart disease is one of the country's biggest killers. Waiting times are coming down but they are still too long. Extra investment and reforms to how care is delivered are now needed to reduce waiting times still further," said Milburn.

"The extra £100 million will provide hospitals with a positive incentive to treat more patients more quickly. This innovative approach will allow hospital capacity to be matched with patient choice. It will help ensure, for the first time, that NHS patients can make an informed choice about where they would like to be treated."