MEMBERS of a cardiac support group have joined the fight to save vital treatment received by heart patients across Hampshire.

Southampton's Hospitals' Heart Support Group, a voluntary group affiliated to the British Heart Foundation, met with campaign organisers this week, where they were given membership forms to join the Cardiac Rehabilitation Support Group.

The group has been set up to fight plans to axe the eight-week rehabilitation classes which help people recover from cardiac disease.

Some of the members of the Heart Support Group, which meets monthly, have done all or part of the rehabilitation course while others were hoping to be able to take it in the future.

Now its members have joined the campaign to save the course for those who desperately need it.

Plans to axe the course were announced after two of the five nurses which run it decided to the leave the Southampton's NHS trust. Due to financial pressures the decision was then made to close the programme.

Health bosses say the move will save around £20,000 - a fraction of the £15m savings target, set after the trust ending the year more than £7m in the red. But heart patients from across the city insist axing the classes will cost the NHS much more in the long run.

Secretary of the Heart Support Group, Trevor Rees, who himself attended the classes following a quadruple heart by-pass, said the group was 100 per cent behind the campaign.

"The benefits of attending the classes are immeasurable," he said.

"Unless you have suffered heart problems you can not believe the devastating effects it has on your confidence and moral. It is a life-changing experience.

"It boosts your confidence and moral just by being with people who have been through the same experience."

What do you think about the cuts? Are you affected? Tell us. Contact Sarah Lefebve on 023 8042 4996 or e-mail using the link above.