The NHS’s ‘worst cardiac care crisis in living memory’ exposed: Number of patients with serious heart problems waiting 18 weeks for care increases fivefold due to pandemic
NHS waiting lists for patients with serious heart problems have increased fivefold in the wake of the pandemic, grim figures show.
More than 163,000 patients in England have suffered treatment delays of at least 18 weeks.
This is up from 32,000 in February 2020 – the month before Covid rocked Britain – and double the 87,000 in February 2022.
According to NHS guidelines, 92 percent of patients should be treated within 18 weeks of referral.
Charities say the NHS is suffering the ‘worst heart care crisis in living memory’, with medics fearing patients left behind could suffer heart attacks and strokes while waiting for vital treatment.
While some warning signs are easy to spot, such as severe chest pain, others are vaguer and harder to pinpoint
Cardiologists today branded the new figures as ‘shocking’ and called for ‘bold action’ to prioritize life-saving heart care.
The latest health care data shows that waiting lists for heart patients also increased in total to 408,548 in February.
The record high of 409,541 was set in September 2023.
This is despite the overall waiting list for routine hospital treatments in England falling for the fifth month in a row due to a technical problem.
At the end of February, more than 7.54 million procedures, such as hip replacements and cataract operations, were waiting to be performed.
When the virus reached Britain, around 4.4 million treatments were booked into the system. The number of queues reached a record 7.8 million in September.
Dr. Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate professor at the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘It is shocking to see that waiting lists for heart care have risen for the third month in a row, despite overall waiting lists having fallen.
‘Timely heart treatment is not a luxury that people can do without.
‘Long waits can put people at risk of preventable heart attacks, heart failure and even premature death.’
She added: ‘Extreme and continued pressure on NHS cardiac care alongside Covid are some of the factors contributing to 39,000 premature deaths from cardiovascular disease in 2022.
‘We need to see bold action to prioritize life-saving NHS heart care and end this painful wait.’
Patients on the cardiac list are awaiting procedures such as open-heart surgery, including bypasses and the placement of stents or pacemakers.
Some have already had a heart attack or stroke and require specialist heart care to reduce the risk of further deterioration.
Rishi Sunak admitted yesterday that progress in reducing NHS waiting lists was not happening as quickly ‘as I would like’.
He added: “Today’s figures show we are making progress towards that goal. We still have more work to do, but our plan is working.”
But the Prime Minister also argued that 430,000 more patients could have been treated if doctors and nurses had decided not to strike in pursuit of huge pay deals.
The latest NHS data shows that more than 305,000 patients in total have waited at least a year for treatment, down slightly from 321,394 a month earlier.
The health care system had been ordered to eliminate all wait times longer than a year by the end of March. This has been postponed to September.
Meanwhile, in February, 252 patients had been queuing for more than two years, down from 376 a month earlier.
The NHS was told that the two-year waiting times should be eliminated by July 2022, except for those who chose to wait longer, did not want to travel to be seen more quickly, or for very complex cases requiring specialist treatment.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak admitted yesterday that progress in reducing waiting lists was not happening “as quickly as I would like”. He added: “Today’s figures show we are making progress towards that goal. We still have more work to do, but our plan is working.” But Mr Sunak also argued that 430,000 more patients could have been treated if doctors and nurses had decided not to strike in pursuit of huge pay deals.
This graph shows the cardiovascular disease mortality rate among those aged 75 in England (blue bars), i.e. the number of deaths per 100,000 people and the pure number of deaths (red line). Medical breakthroughs and advanced screening techniques helped lower these numbers starting in 2004, but progress began to stall in the early 2010s before reversing in the last few years of data.
NHS data shows that the number of younger adults suffering a heart attack has risen over the past decade. The largest increase (95 percent) was recorded in the 25-29 age group, although because the number of patients is low, even small peaks can look dramatic
Earlier this year, alarming data also revealed that premature deaths from cardiovascular problems, such as heart attacks and strokes, have reached the highest level in more than a decade.
MailOnline has previously highlighted how the number of young people under 40 in England being treated for heart attacks by the NHS is increasing.
Rates of heart attacks, heart failure and strokes among those under 75 had fallen since the 1960s thanks to plummeting smoking rates, advanced surgical techniques and breakthroughs such as stents and statins.
But rising obesity rates and the associated catalog of associated health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes are now believed to be one of the major contributing factors.
Slow ambulance response times for Category 2 calls in England – including suspected heart attacks and strokes – and long waits for tests and treatment have also been blamed.
Nearly one in six adults aged 25 to 34 in England are now classified as fat, compared to just a quarter in the early 1990s.
Despite claims from anti-vaxxers, cardiologists say fears that Covid vaccines could have fueled a rise in heart problems are far from the truth.