New procedures for treating heart attacks will save 240 more lives a year, the health secretary claimed yesterday.
It would also prevent about 260 strokes a year.
Health secretary Alan Johnson announced plans to make the procedure of primary angioplasty the main emergency treatment for heart attack.
The treatment has been in place in London where patients are taken directly to specialist centres.
Critics say the government will find it harder to establish enough specialist centres within range of ambulances. However trials have also been run in rural counties such as Devon.
Mr Johnson wants 97 per cent of the population to have access to primary angioplasty, which involves doctors going into the arteries directly to find blockages.
He published details of a report yesterday setting out the effectiveness of the treatment.
Professor Roger Boyle, the national clinical director for heart disease, said: "As well as providing further evidence of the efficacy of angioplasty, this report shows that a primary angioplasty can be offered to heart attack patients in almost all parts of the country.
"This is a very positive conclusion in terms of improving outcomes for heart attack patients and ultimately saving lives."
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