Extreme heart care disruption linked to 30,000 excess deaths involving heart disease

Severe ambulance delays, inaccessible care and ever-growing waiting lists are contributing to heart patients dying needlessly, our new analysis warns.  

Since the pandemic began, there have been just over 30,000 excess deaths involving heart disease - on average over 230 additional deaths a week above expected heart disease death rates. 

Heart disease is among the most prominent diseases involved in the high numbers of excess deaths since the start of the pandemic, the analysis shows. 

While Covid-19 infection was likely a significant factor in excess coronary heart disease-related deaths during the first year of the pandemic, Covid infections are no longer a driving force behind the excess heart disease death rate.

The report says that significant and widespread disruption to heart care services has driven the ongoing surge in excess deaths involving heart disease in England.

Latest figures show that average ambulance response times for suspected heart attacks have risen to 48 minutes in England against a target of 18 minutes, while the vast backlog of time-sensitive cardiac care has grown by almost 50 per cent since the pandemic began to nearly 350,000 people.  

Unacceptably long waits

Unacceptably long waits for diagnosis and treatment of conditions like coronary heart disease and abnormal heart rhythms increase the risk of someone developing permanent heart damage, becoming disabled from heart failure, and even dying while waiting for vital care.  

There are also millions of “missing” heart patients, both diagnosed and undiagnosed, who have struggled to access care for conditions that put people at much greater risk of a future heart attack or stroke, like high blood pressure.

Modelling from NHS England suggests that the decline in blood pressure management since the pandemic began could lead to an extra 11,190 heart attacks and 16,702 additional strokes over a three-year period. 

We have urged the new Government to tackle the heart care crisis head-on with a heart strategy that can deliver for current and future heart patients. 

Our comment 

Our Chief Executive, Dr Charmaine Griffiths, said: “It is devastating that the ongoing and extreme disruption to heart care has contributed to 30,000 more families losing a loved one. 
 
“Today many hundreds of thousands of people fear that their heart condition could get worse before they get treatment – potentially stopping them from working or enjoying a full life. Many more are completely unaware they now have a condition putting them at a greater risk of early death from a heart attack or stroke. 

“There isn’t a moment to lose – the urgent needs of heart patients and NHS staff must be heard. As this new Government draws up its priorities for healthcare, a heart strategy must be at the top of the agenda to prevent more heartbreak and needless loss of life.” 

Phil’s story 

Three months ago, Phil Moore, 50, from near Maidstone, thought he was going to die in a supermarket car park. On the way out of a shop, he had started sweating profusely, feeling dizzy, and having heavy pain in his chest. Having worked for the BHF, he knew he was having a heart attack. He struggled back to his car and rang 999 immediately, but had to wait around 40 minutes for an ambulance as he faded in and out of consciousness. 
 
Phil said: “The heart attack came on very suddenly, with no warning, and it came on very strong. While slumped in the driver’s seat, I was fighting to stay conscious.  
 
“All I could think about was that this could be the place I’d ever be, and I might not see anyone I love ever again. I mustered the strength to look at my phone after a while, and it had been 20 minutes since I had called for an ambulance.

"I redialled 999 and pleaded with the call handler to send an ambulance quickly. I don’t think I answered many of their questions, it’s now all very hazy. 
 
“Forty minutes later, the ambulance arrived and rushed me to straight to the emergency cardiac unit for an angioplasty – a procedure that widens a narrowed or blocked artery so blood can flow more easily. It was very scary, because it goes through your mind that I want to speak to my wife again, I want to speak to my children again, but you don’t know if you’re going to.” 

Tipping Point

Our Associate Medical Director, Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, said: “Far too many people continue to face long waits for time-sensitive heart care, putting them at higher risk of becoming more unwell the longer they wait with potentially devastating consequences.

"Delays on such an extreme scale are likely leading to avoidable emergency admissions, permanent heart damage, disability from heart failure, and early death. 

"There aren’t enough NHS staff to deal with the ever-rising tide of heart problems, and those that remain are overstretched, overwhelmed, and close to leaving. This can’t become business as usual - heart care staff need fit-for-purpose facilities and a clear plan so patients can receive their time-critical care, allowing them to lead a fuller, healthier life away from hospital beds and waiting rooms.”  

Today’s publication, Tipping Point, comes one year after we told of the immense impact of the pandemic on heart patients in 2021’s Untold Heartbreak report.

The new analysis examines how heart care services are on a cliff edge, laying out the significant changes required to relieve the pressure on the NHS across the areas of care and support, public health and prevention, and cardiovascular disease research.  

This article has been edited to clarify that Covid infections were a significant factor in excess coronary heart disease deaths during the first year of the pandemic, and that the disruption to services has contributed to the ongoing high excess coronary heart disease death rate.

READ OUR NEW REPORT