The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said significant and widespread disruption to cardiac care services continues to lead to an increase in excess deaths. His analysis of official data reveals that there have been, on average, more than 230 extra deaths per week over and above what would be expected from heart disease since the start of the pandemic. Since the arrival of Covid there have been just over 30,000 excess deaths linked to heart disease. Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, deputy medical director at the BHF, said: “Many people continue to face long waits for time-sensitive heart care, putting them at greater risk of becoming unwell the longer they wait, with potentially devastating consequences. “Delays on such an extreme scale are likely to lead to avoidable emergency admissions, permanent heart damage, disability from heart failure and premature death. There aren’t enough NHS staff to deal with the ever-increasing tide of heart problems and those who remain are overstretched, overworked and close to quitting.’ NHS figures show that ambulances in England took an average of 47 minutes and 59 seconds in September to respond to emergency calls, such as for suspected heart attacks. This was up from 42 minutes 44 seconds in August and well above the 18 minute target. There are still problems with ambulances waiting outside hospitals, due to delays in delivering patients to A&E. The BHF report describes a “massive backlog of time-sensitive cardiac care”, which has increased by almost 50% since the pandemic began to almost 350,000 people. It warns of millions of “missing” heart patients, diagnosed and undiagnosed, who could have conditions such as high blood pressure that put them at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. Dr Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the BHF, said: “It is devastating that the ongoing and extreme disruption in cardiac care has resulted in 30,000 more families losing a loved one. Today, many hundreds of thousands of people fear that their heart condition could worsen before they receive treatment, potentially preventing them from working or enjoying a full life. “Many more are completely unaware that they now have a condition that puts them at greater risk of early death from a heart attack or stroke. There is no moment to waste, the urgent needs of heart patients and NHS staff must be heard. As this new government sets out its healthcare priorities, a heart strategy must be at the top of the agenda to prevent more strokes and needless loss of life.” A separate report also published on Thursday shows that Asians in England have seen a much greater drop in scheduled hospital care during the pandemic than white, black or mixed ethnic groups. According to the research, wide variations in hospital care rates in England for different ethnic groups existed before 2020, but a 3.7m fall in scheduled hospital procedures in the first two years of the pandemic exacerbated these inequalities. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Research by the Nuffield Trust and the NHS Race and Health Observatory provides the most detailed statistical analysis of hospital backlogs in England by ethnic group to date. Sarah Scobie, deputy director of research at the Nuffield Trust, said: “Urgent action needs to be taken to tackle healthcare inequalities between ethnic and socio-economic groups and address the large and persistent shortfall in cardiac care for the Asian group.” . Dr Habib Naqvi, director of the NHS Sport and Health Observatory, said: “The Government should deliver on the commitment to ‘respond to the NHS’ by tackling delays as a priority.” A spokesman for NHS England said: “While Covid has inevitably had an impact with fewer people coming for care, there has been a significant increase in referrals for cardiac care over the last year and staff have already made significant progress with the longest serving – many of whom are heart patients – with the number of people waiting more than 18 months 60% lower in August compared to the same month last year. “Our national elective recovery plan has set out a comprehensive plan to address the backlog and local teams are working hard to restore their cardiac services to pre-pandemic levels while maintaining a focus on preventing heart disease first, so if worried about symptoms please come forward for care.”
