What support it will give to the British Heart Foundation's campaign to increase the number of specialist heart nurses in the NHS.

There are 65 specialist cardiac nurses in the NHS in Scotland. We are in fruitful dialogue with the British Heart Foundation and are aware of the good work they are undertaking in the area of heart failure nurses. They have supported two heart failure nurses in Dumfries and Galloway and we are awaiting the outcome of a national mapping exercise of heart failure services they are conducting.
We have a good story to tell in Scotland with our cardiac services. Our chronic heart disease (CHD) and stroke Strategy brought £40 million funding over three years. Some NHS boards – including Greater Glasgow and Ayrshire and Arran – have spent some of this money on heart failure services. Last week, we announced that Scottish patients have the shortest waiting times in the UK for diagnosis and treatment of coronary heart disease. The Executive is pressing ahead with plans to ban smoking in all enclosed public places – which the British Heart Foundation called: “a bold decision… showing how seriously they take the health of their country”. And above all else, we have cut the rate of premature death from CHD by 38% since 1995.