WILTSHIRE Health Authority is to receive a £29 million spending increase next year and that's allowing for inflation.

The government has also announced that any heart patient in the county who has waited six months or more for an operation will have the opportunity to have the treatment paid for privately or even abroad.

The authority's total budget for next year will be £453,698,000, an increase of 9.71 per cent on this year and 7.04 per cent in "real terms".

The cash will be used to increase capacity, reduce waiting times and help deliver a promise that 90 per cent of GPs see their patients within 48 hours by the end of 2002.

Health secretary Alan Milburn said: "These extra resources will help us to cut waiting times for treatment and build up the local health service with more doctors and nurses.

"Today's allocations will also help us continue to fight against cancer and coronary heart disease two of the country's biggest killers.''