BHF comment
Autumn Statement delivers little hope to heart patients
Heart care in crisis
Today's Autumn Statement missed a crucial opportunity to tackle waiting lists and help the NHS meet the needs of heart patients.At the end of September, there were 409,541 people waiting for time-critical heart care in England. The longer people wait for treatment, the higher their risk of becoming disabled from heart failure or dying prematurely.
Ahead of what will likely be a hard winter for the NHS, the lack of sufficient funding to address growing waiting lists is deeply concerning.
Aside from ongoing commitments to deliver the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, it was disappointing not to see funding for the NHS to address its workforce challenges including protected time to conduct research or take part in training.
Our comment
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, our Chief Executive, said: “The Autumn Statement brought little hope for the record 400,000 people in England facing distressing, and potentially life-threatening, waits for heart care right now.
“The Government has pledged to cut waiting lists, but the NHS needs significant, sustained investment and support to do this.
“The Statement was a missed opportunity to get a grip on the heart care crisis and help create a healthier nation in the process.”
No focus on prevention
In line with the Government’s recent commitment to bring in legislation that would help create a smokefree generation, the Chancellor has announced an increase on duty on all tobacco products to reduce their affordability.
This is welcome, however, the Statement neglected to outline plans to better prevent other drivers of heart disease, such as obesity, which puts millions at greater risk of heart attack and stroke and may put further strain on the NHS.
The pandemic has shown us the importance of building a resilient and healthy nation.
We have been calling on Government to invest in preventing chronic disease, including by increasing the public health grant, which allows local authorities to provide vital support services that can help more people to stay healthy.
Ambition needed for research
It’s positive that Research and Development (R&D) is a priority for the Government, but without clear and ambitious targets for spending, the Government will struggle to achieve its aims to become a science superpower.
We encourage Government to push to make R&D an engine of economic growth, including providing more support for charity-funded research.
Government delivers responses to significant reviews
Alongside the Autumn Statement, the Government also delivered its response to the O'Shaughnessy and Nurse reviews.
Focused on commercial clinical trials and the research, development and innovation (RDI) landscape respectively, the measures set out by Government in response to these reviews offer a significant opportunity to deliver improvement to the UK research landscape.
Both recognised the importance of medical research charities to UK Life Science, and we hope Government will build on this to ensure charities have a strong voice in the sector.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, our Medical Director, said: “In its response to the O'Shaughnessy and Nurse reviews, the Government has made many welcome commitments to strengthen the UK research ecosystem and deliver real health benefits for the nation.
“Medical research charities like us are integral to the UK research landscape and we are pleased to see their vital role recognised.
"As these measures are implemented, charities must be a key part of the conversation, and we look forward to working with the Government to fully realise these ambitions."