Survival and support
Lives at risk from 'ticking timebomb' in cardiovascular care
The devastating disruption to heart disease care caused by the pandemic could put lives at risk for years to come, according to our new briefing.
The warning comes as we predict that official figures due this autumn will show a rise in the UK’s heart and circulatory disease death rate for 2020. This sparks fears that decades of progress could reverse in the coming years.
The rise is due to 5,800 more deaths than would be expected (excess deaths) from conditions including heart attack and stroke in England during the first year of the pandemic, despite the NHS working harder than ever.
This spike in deaths is just the “tip of the iceberg”. Missed opportunities to prevent and diagnose heart and circulatory diseases, an unprecedented backlog of people waiting for care, and a cliff-edge fall in research funding could amount to a loss of progress for a generation and lives cut short from treatable heart conditions.
The briefing - The Tip of the Iceberg – reveals that the pandemic has caused disruption to every aspect of cardiac care.
• Around 131,000 fewer (28%) heart procedures and operations were performed in England during the first year of the pandemic and there has been a 180-fold increase in the number of people waiting more than a year for heart procedures, including surgery
• GP referrals to specialist heart doctors in England fell by nearly a third (29%) in 2020
• There were nearly a third fewer (29%) ultrasound heart scans (echocardiograms) to diagnose or monitor people’s conditions in the first year of the pandemic
We believe that this disruption is contributing to “a cardiovascular ticking timebomb for the future”.
At the same time, the fall in research funding will likely delay life saving treatments reaching patients. We fund more than half of UK non-commercial cardiovascular research, but have had to cut our annual budget for new research from over £100m to £50m in the last year, with similar cuts seen across the medical research charity sector.
With Covid-19 cases declining, the Government must act to meet the Prime Minister’s promise to “beat the backlog” and “build back better”. This must include a commitment to substantial and ongoing funding to support the exhausted NHS and help it tackle the vast backlog of people awaiting care. Alongside this must come investment in the medical research charity sector to ensure the pace of breakthroughs for patients doesn’t stall, and a financial boost for public health services to help prevent people developing heart and circulatory conditions.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, our Associate Medical Director and Consultant Cardiologist, said: "Despite the tireless efforts of NHS staff, the pandemic has caused untold heartbreak, with thousands of extra heart disease and stroke deaths and significant delays to cardiovascular care.
“However, what we have seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. No part of the system providing care for people with heart and circulatory diseases has been left undamaged - from life saving prevention, detection, treatment, and recovery, to crucial research that could unlock future breakthroughs and cures.
“We face a cardiovascular ticking timebomb for the future that could start to reverse six decades of progress in reducing death rates from heart disease and stroke. Averting this disaster will require clear plans that help the NHS to recover, bolster public health, and revive the hard-hit medical research charity sector. Getting this right could protect thousands of lives from heart and circulatory diseases for years to come.”
The briefing also points to widening health inequalities, an overstretched NHS, and heightened levels of anxiety among people with heart disease. In the last year, the BHF has seen a 38 per cent rise in calls and emails to its Heart Helpline, with a significant proportion from people struggling to access care.