Bridging Hearts: Addressing inequalities in cardiovascular health and care report

Report overview

Health inequalities are the unfair differences between the health of different groups of people. This includes people’s risk of developing a disease, differences in their access to care, and how long people can expect to live in good health. The causes of these differences are complex, and include factors such as their income level, their sex, or their ethnic background.

There are big gaps in life expectancy between the most and least deprived areas in the UK. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) drives a large proportion of this gap. However, there is lots that the Government and health systems can do to reduce these inequalities and improve the health of the UK.

This report aims to paint a UK-wide picture and summarise what we know about cardiovascular inequalities. We also know that BHF has a role to play in reducing these inequalities. In this report, we outline some of our commitments in this space.

Download the full report or read the summary of findings on this page.

The impact of deprivation on heart health

People living in the most deprived areas are more likely to have poorer heart health, die young from CVD, and have worse access to healthcare which could help them treat their condition.

Much of this is driven by higher levels of obesity, smoking, and poorer provision of preventative healthcare services. GP practices in deprived areas, for example, have fewer GPs, despite having larger caseloads.

The impact of sex on heart health

The relationship between sex and CVD is complex.

In the UK, more men live with CVD and die early from it than women. Some of this is down to biological factors, because men have lower levels of oestrogen (a hormone which protects the heart), and are more likely to store fat around their organs. However, it is also down to social and behavioural factors, like men being less likely to go to the GP, and being more likely to smoke.

This has led to a long-standing and harmful myth that CVD only impacts men. However, coronary heart disease kills more than twice as many women in the UK as breast cancer each year. When women are at risk of CVD, evidence shows they are more likely to be misdiagnosed and receive lower quality treatment.

The impact of ethnicity on heart health

The evidence we have demonstrates that there are differences in cardiovascular health and access to care across different ethnic groups. However, across the UK as a whole, data is poor. In order to design effective policy to reduce these inequalities, better data collection is crucial.

The evidence we do have suggests there are higher rates of CVD and/or many of their risk factors in South Asian and Black ethnic groups. This evidence also shows that access to care for Black groups is worse.

Where we lack population-level statistics, we can use people’s experiences and stories to fill the gaps. We recently conducted research to collect this data with ethnic minority individuals across the 4 nations. Many told us that communication barriers can leave patients feeling unheard, and that there was a lack of tailored advice and support, which caused distress and confusion.