An NGO has warned that extreme disruptions to NHS services have caused a dramatic increase in heart disease mortality since the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), ambulance delays, inaccessible care, and surgery wait times are responsible for an excess of 30,000 cardiac deaths in England.
It has demanded a fresh plan to minimize “unacceptable” wait times.
The government has announced that it will invest an additional £500 million to reduce ambulance demand and increase hospital capacity.
According to the British Heart Foundation’s analysis, 395,000 people in England might be on a waiting list for a heart test or operation by April 2023, up from 224,000 before the start of the Covid epidemic.
Former professional skier Phil Moore suffered a heart attack while walking to his car after a shopping excursion in August.
The 50-year-old man from Kent remarked, “It came on quickly and without warning, and I felt ill.”
He dialed 999 twice but said he had to wait approximately 40 minutes for an ambulance while he lost consciousness.
“You worry about it later, but at that point, your only concern is survival,” he said.
Mr. Moore, a former BHF employee, was transported by paramedics to an emergency cardiac facility in Ashford for angioplasty – a technique that expands a blocked artery to improve blood flow.
“It was quite frightening because you think, ‘I want to speak to my wife again, I want to speak to my children again, but you don’t know whether you will.'”
Doctors and patient advocacy groups are growing increasingly concerned about the high number of deaths recorded this year.
According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the overall number was 17% higher than projected in England during the week ending October 21 based on the average of prior years.
Covid was noted on 523 death certificates issued in England during the week of October 14th, accounting for a portion of this increase.
The aging of the population could be an additional factor. The headline data on extra deaths does not account for the fact that the population is aging. This may account for more than half of the entire surplus.
Lists of patients and ambulance delays
Since February 2020, a new analysis of mortality data by the British Heart Foundation reveals that heart disease is one of the most prevalent causes, accounting for 230 more deaths per week over the expected rate.
According to the charity, the surge was caused by “severe and widespread” disruptions to heart care services.
Its research of NHS data revealed that as of the end of August 2022, 346,129 individuals were waiting for time-sensitive cardiac care, an increase of 49% since February 2020.
It was reported that 7,467 patients had been waiting for a heart procedure for more than a year, a number 267 times greater than before the pandemic.
In England, the average ambulance response time for a suspected heart attack has increased to 48 minutes from 18 minutes, according to the most recent NHS numbers.
According to the BHF, problems gaining access to face-to-face GP and hospital care may also have contributed to the increase.
It referenced modeling from NHS England indicating that the decline in blood pressure screenings due to Covid could result in an additional 11,190 heart attacks and 17,702 strokes over three years.
Dr. Charmaine Griffiths, CEO of the British Heart Foundation, stated: “It is tragic that 30,000 additional families have lost a loved one as a result of the continuous and severe disruptions in heart treatment.
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals fear that their cardiac condition will worsen before they receive treatment, which could prevent them from working or living a full life. Many more are unaware that they have a condition that increases their risk of premature mortality from a heart attack or stroke.”
The organization is advocating for a new national heart strategy to reduce GP appointment waiting times, solve staff shortages in cardiac care, and improve funding for medical research.
According to the Department of Health, the NHS has made headway in addressing the longest treatment backlogs, with wait times of more than two years “essentially abolished.”
A spokesman added: “We are enhancing care and outcomes for patients with heart disease by creating over 80 community diagnostic centers around the nation, which have already provided over two million additional screenings.
“We recognize the challenges ambulances are under, and we’ve put in place a variety of measures to alleviate this, including an additional £500 million to speed up discharge and free up hospital beds, cut wait times in A&E, and get ambulances back on the road fast.”
