Political reporter Tony Snow and health reporter Hugh Cadman report on a landmark week for The Gazette's Healthy Hearts campaign.

HEALTH Secretary Alan Milburn was this week put on the spot in Parliament over his failure to meet his pledge to provide extra funds for the battle against heart disease in the Basingstoke area.

The minister also came under fire over the general health service cash crisis facing the Basingstoke area.

Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter and North West Hampshire MP Sir George Young both quoted The Gazette in the House of Commons as they took the minister to task.

As Mr Milburn was opening a debate on the future of the NHS on Tuesday, Mr Hunter intervened and asked him about the pledge he made in May to help The Gazette's Healthy Hearts campaign by giving extra cash to the Basingstoke area which is a blackspot for heart problems.

When Mr Milburn visited Basingstoke, he said he was aware of The Gazette's campaign. He pledged that, as Basingstoke was a blackspot for heart deaths, it would be one of the areas earmarked for extra cash for tackling heart disease.

Since then we have constantly reminded the Minister about this promise - but no extra funds have been forthcoming and Mr Milburn has refused to grant us an interview.

Addressing the minister, Mr Hunter said: "Does the Secretary of State recall that when he visited Basingstoke during the General Election, according to the local media, he reported additional funding for cardiac treatment?

"The local media have tried to get news on that extra funding from his private office - but have not received a reply."

Mr Milburn replied: "I will try to be more responsive to the local media in Basingstoke.

"I hope that they are as responsible as the national media on matters relating to the health service. If the honourable gentleman has specific questions about investment in Basingstoke in cardiac care or otherwise, I am happy to look into them. If he writes to me, I will gladly write back to him."

Mr Hunter, in fact, wrote to Mr Milburn in a Parliamentary question 10 days ago asking about his promise of extra funds for heart disease in the Basingstoke area - but, to date, has not received a reply.

Later in the debate, Sir George told Mr Milburn: "Out there in the real world, the NHS's back is against the wall.

"Last month, The Basingstoke Gazette said: 'Hospital faces drastic cuts. Worried health chiefs are to write to MPs about a cash crisis which is forcing them to plan closures of 40 hospital beds and make cuts in services amounting to millions of pounds'.

"As for the new resources the minister keeps telling us about, the paper commented: 'The directors said the new money coming into the health service has been "badged" for specific services and swallowed up in pay awards and targets'.

"It went on to say that the trust involved planned to deal with bed-blocking and then close the beds."

Sir George commented that he did not always take what the media said at face value but added: "Looking behind it and consulting the NHS's own publications, however, will show us that the newspaper is right.

"A week or two ago, my health authority published Improving Performance in North and Mid-Hampshire which sits uneasily with what we have heard from the minister this afternoon.

"The first page tells us: 'This means that there is currently an underlying deficit of £7.5 million in the NHS in North and Mid-Hampshire.

"Consequently, we face a major challenge if we are to secure health services fit for the 21st century within the resources available locally."

Sir George added: "Our hospitals have the stars, the beacons and all the trophies that validate competence in today's NHS. What we do not have is the cash.

"The problems in my constituency - and it is not unique - can be simply stated. Pay awards and other costs are in excess of the inflation uplift given by the Government.

"NHS staff cannot afford to live in Hampshire and other parts of the South East so there are recruitment and retention problems."

On Wednesday - the day after the debate - Mr Milburn announced that Southampton's Wessex Cardiac Unit would be one of eight in the country to benefit from a £170 million investment boost for expansion and modernisation.

This would enable the Wessex unit - which caters for patients from the Basingstoke area - to have four laboratories instead of three and increase the number of ward and intensive care beds by 50 per cent over the next four years