Heart operation delays are ‘ticking timebomb for many’

The number of people waiting more than four months is 89 per cent higher than before the pandemic, a new British Heart Foundation (BHF) briefing has found.

Latest figures reveal that 5,737 people in the region were waiting 18 weeks or more for heart-related treatments in February 2021, compared to 3,035 people in February 2020.

The charity says this spike in deaths is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’.

It comes as hundreds of people have now been waiting over a year for heart operations and procedures.

In February 2021, 372 people in the West Midlands had been waiting in-excess of 12-months – compared to none in February last year.

The BHF says the disruption to heart disease care could put lives at risk for years to come.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation 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.

Crucial

“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.”

The warning comes as the BHF predicts that official figures due this autumn will show a rise in the UK’s heart and circulatory disease death rate for 2020.

The rise is due to 5,800 more deaths than would be expected from conditions including heart attack and stroke in England during the first year of the pandemic.

Around 131,000 fewer 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 last year.

Dr Babu-Narayan, added: “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.”