A Bradford woman is among the first to benefit from a scheme designed to cut waiting lists for surgery.

Fifty-seven-year-old Ann Najib (pictured) had been waiting more than 12 months for a heart bypass operation at Leeds Teaching Hospitals when she was given the opportunity to travel to London for the surgery.

She is now recovering at home - and said she would urge anyone in her position to think about having surgery elsewhere if they were offered the chance.

She was contacted under the Extending Patient Choice Initiative, which means patients who have been waiting for more than six months for cardiac surgery in Leeds can discuss surgery at other heart centres in the country.

The initiative is part of a scheme designed to ensure patients are cared for as quickly as possible and have a choice about where they have their operations.

Currently, there are 12 Bradford people who have been waiting between six and eight months for heart surgery at Leeds and a further three who have been waiting nine months

Mrs Najib, of Spring Royd Terrace, Girlington, first saw a doctor after suffering breathing difficulties and chest pains and was eventually told she would need a double heart bypass. After months on the waiting list, it took just three weeks to organise a date for surgery at St George's Hospital in the capital.

"My health deteriorated while I was on the waiting list," she said. "I'm a keen gardener and have two allotments and I used to go swimming twice a week. I had to stop those things. It was really frightening. I didn't know what was going to happen - whether I was going to have a heart attack while I was waiting."

Within a week of the operation, Mrs Najib was back at home. She said: "There were two hard parts to this. One was not having all my family around me and the other was the long journey home, which was horrendous."

Patient care advisor Chanele Keenan, who co-ordinates the scheme on behalf of Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Once a patient has been waiting for more than six months for heart surgery I will contact them to find out whether they would like to wait to be cared for in Leeds or would like us to explore other options with them.

"If they decide they would like to have their surgery as quickly as possible, then their case will be assessed by a consultant surgeon to decide on their clinical suitability to travel to another centre."

So far, patients waiting for surgery at Leeds have travelled to St George's and Hammersmith hospitals in London. It is hoped the scheme will continue to expand over the next few months.