HEART care services at Basingstoke hospital are set for a boost after a trail-blazing deal between trust bosses and the Ministry of Defence.

Bosses at the hospital this week said yes to the three-year appointment of a third heart specialist, who is currently completing training through the Ministry of Defence and is now looking for an NHS role.

Three quarters of the new recruit's time will be spent purely on hospital work, while the remainder will be spent carrying out work for the MoD.

The arrangement is the first of its kind between the two parties, and bosses say it will help ease pressure on cardiology services at the hospital.

The move is another victory in the battle to improve heart care in the Basingstoke area.

Dr Andrew Bishop, consultant cardiologist and adult medicine clinical director, told hospital board directors why they should give the go-ahead to the appointment at a meeting on Tuesday.

He said: "We received an approach from the forces because they have a cardiologist coming up through their training programme who is looking for a placement at the end of this year. He has an interest in coming here.

"The most important thing is that the person is of the quality we need.

"Getting this chap down here could be viewed as quite a coup, and we would like him with us.

"It is something that has been brewing for a while, and I am confident this is the way for us to go."

It is expected that the extra work the hospital will be able to take on as a result of the appointment will bring in more than £45,000 a year for the Basingstoke hospital trust.

The consultant lined up for the post - who has not been named, but who should be available from December - has already spent time in Basingstoke on a previous placement.

Dr Bishop said that although the new specialist could be taken off-site by his defence commitments, for example, to serve in Iraq, it is possible the consultant may carry out his MoD work at the hospital. He will have a military rank, although the hospital says it is unlikely he will use it.

David Emmerson, chairman of Basingstoke hospital's trust board, said: "This is an exciting and refreshing development."

The appointment is a further step for Basingstoke on the road to recovery for heart health. In 2000, The Gazette launched a Healthy Hearts Campaign - which successfully lobbied for extra money - after experts marked the town out as a blackspot.

In 2001, an angiography unit was opened at the hosp-ital, which allows more heart tests on patients. Two years later, the green light was given to the establishment of an angioplasty service - which allows doctors to open up blocked arteries using tiny balloons and mesh tubes.