Cardiac patients 'at risk because of cancelled procedures' in England
Tens of thousands of people with heart problems are at risk because they have not had potentially life-saving surgery during the coronavirus pandemic, a leading charity has said.
At least 28,000 patients in England have missed out on cardiac surgery since March, when hospitals suspended many normal services to focus on Covid-19, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) says.
Not undergoing treatment could damage people’s health and even result in deaths. Hospitals will also face a big backlog of care for cardiac patients once they resume their full range of services.
People affected by the suspension of NHS services include those waiting to have a stent fitted to unblock an artery, a pacemaker implanted or echocardiography.
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The BHF is worried that postponed surgery will increase the risk of patients who are already medically vulnerable suffering complications and setbacks to their health.
“People with heart and circulatory diseases are already at increased risk of dying from Covid-19, and their lives should not be put at even greater risk by missing out on treatment for their condition”, said Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, the BHF’s associate medical director.
“At the very least 28,000 planned inpatient heart procedures have been deferred in response to the Covid-19 outbreak in England alone. This backlog will only get larger and the patients in need of treatment could get sicker as their care is delayed further.
“If hospital investigations are delayed too long it can result in preventable permanent long-term complications such as heart failure,” she said.
A separate YouGov survey for the BHF of 1,484 people with heart problems and circulatory diseases found that 47% have found it harder to access treatment during the pandemic. Of those 41% had a planned test, operation or other procedure postponed or cancelled and 48% cited difficulty getting a face-to-face appointment.
Many others were reluctant to seek NHS care because they were anxious. Forty-two per cent said they did not want to add to the pressure on the NHS during the pandemic, and 27% said they were scared they would catch Covid-19 if they went into hospital.
NHS leaders have acknowledged that the suspension of so much normal care, combined with people’s fear of going to A&E or seeing a GP in case they catch coronavirus, may have led to some people dying.
Health experts believe it will be many months before the NHS is able to start seeing the number of patients it did before the pandemic. A possible second wave of infections, the fact that many NHS staff are exhausted and constraints on the number of patients who can be in hospital because of physical distancing, will all hamper hospitals’ ability to get back to normal, according to Nigel Edwards, the chief executive of the Nuffield Trust thinktank.
