But imagine the anguish when the recovering patient subsequently dies from a full-scale attack during the wait for potentially life-saving surgery.

Families in Northamptonshire have experienced this situation over many years.

Northampton General Hospital's cardiology unit has not had the equipment to carry out complex heart operations and patients have been sent to Oxford or Middlesex.

The average wait for treatment has been three weeks and, during this time, some patients have suffered a second and fatal heart attack.

With the opening of a state-of-the-art cardiology department this autumn, doctors are predicting they will save 10 to 20 lives a year, because they will be able to operate within 42 to 78 hours, instead of 21 days.

Dr Patrick Davey, a consultant cardiologist, said: "There are only two other units in the country like this.

We have state-of-the-art equipment and can do complex computer-generated analysis. It is better than 95 per cent of UK hospitals."

The 1,000 sq ft unit is part of a new £13.5 million building which contains cardiology, renal and nuclear medicine departments.

It has created jobs for more than 25 people.

Built on a former contractors' car park, the block has been squeezed on to the crammed site by partly spanning a road.

It has been five years in the making and is already making a difference to the lives of patients and staff.

The cardiology unit, which sees outpatients and carries out surgery, consists of five consultants, four specialists, 14 nurses, three radiographers and three technicians.

Previously, they were spread across the hospital, with the cardiologists being based in huts in the car park. Now they are all in one corridor and can meet regularly to discuss difficult cases.

The unit is also next to the cardiology ward and above emergency admissions, giving it good links to relevant departments.

Dr Davey explained why having the renal unit on the floor below was also important: "Renal patients get a lot of heart disease; it is the most likely cause of death. It makes sense to have the two specialist facilities together."

Treatments on offer at unit
The aim of the cardiology unit is to carry out three procedures: angiograms, angioplasties and the fitting of pacemakers.

Coronary heart disease is the country's biggest killer, affecting 50 per cent of the population.

It is caused by narrowing and blocking of the heart arteries, but there are procedures which can detect it and treatment to widen the arteries.

An angiogram is a 30-minute procedure where dye is injected into heart arteries and x-rays are taken.

This allows doctors to look at a patient's heart and see if there are problems.

This procedure has been carried out at the Northampton hospital for more than a decade and will continue in the new unit.

The hospital does about 600 angiograms a year, but is aiming to increase this to more than 1,200.

The biggest change is the introduction of angioplasty and pacemaker fittings.

Previously, 80 per cent of angioplasties were carried out in Oxford and the remaining 20 per cent at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex.

The aim now is to carry out 350 angioplasties in Northampton each year, rising to more than 500 in later years.

The new unit means that 80 per cent of angioplasties with now take place in town, with an out-of-hours service going to Oxford.

In angioplasty, a balloon is inserted inside the heart artery to widen it and a metal wire, known as a stent, can also be put in to keep debris at the side of the artery.

Northampton is anticipating that 40 per cent of the angioplasties will be routine operations and 60 per cent will be carried out as emergency measures after a patient has had a small heart attack, to prevent a larger one.

Dr Davey said: "After a small heart attack, the event rate of another is extremely high in the first few weeks."

Until now, he explained, some patients had not survived the trip to Oxford.

The other side of the unit's work is the fitting and checking of pacemakers.

The Northampton hospital has taken on Dr Jonathan Timperley to do this work. He previously carried out the surgery on Northampton patients at Oxford on Wednesdays.

He explained: "It is not just fitting them, as they need to be followed up every three to six months.

"At the moment, patients are going to Oxford for each follow-up, so it will make a massive amount of difference to them to be able to come here."

The procedures Dr Timperley will carry out from the beginning of next month include fitting and checking pacemakers – about 250 a year – inserting complex implantable cardioverter defibrillator pacemakers – 20 to 30 a year – and fitting cardiac resynchronisation therapy pacemakers – 20 to 30 a year.