Hospital waiting lists for vital heart care have continued to grow, according to latest NHS England figures published today.
The latest statistics reveal that 270,229 people were waiting for heart tests and treatment, including invasive heart procedures and heart surgery, at the end of August in England – the 14th consecutive month that numbers have risen.
Even before the pandemic, 233,081 people were on cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery waiting lists – and this figure had been increasing year-on-year in England.
Of those waiting at the end of August in England, 64,575 had been waiting over 18 weeks – double the number compared to before the pandemic began.
The number of people waiting over a year decreased in August to 3,504 from a peak of 5,248 in March 2021 – however, the figure is still 125 times higher than before the pandemic began when just 28 people had been waiting this long.
Additionally 63,370 people in England had been waiting more than six weeks for an echocardiogram (heart ultrasound) - this is more than ten times more than before the pandemic.
Hidden backlog
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, our Associate Medical Director and Consultant Cardiologist, said: "Even before the pandemic began, waiting lists for vital heart care were too long. Now, this crisis continues to gather momentum month-on-month.
“What’s more, these concerning figures only tell half the story. There is another bigger, hidden backlog of people who are not even on the waiting list yet, because vital heart disease diagnoses are being delayed. This continued disruption puts lives at risk, which is all the more tragic because effective heart treatments exist.
“People with heart conditions need to hear that cardiovascular care will be specifically prioritised, with a clear recovery plan for England to train a larger workforce and build sustainable heart disease services bigger, better and fairer for now and the future. Getting this right would prevent a higher toll of death and disability from treatable heart conditions.”
In August, we published a new report, The Untold Heartbreak, about the severe impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the care of heart patients.
The report forecasts that it could take up to five years for the heart care backlog to recover to pre-pandemic levels in England, which were already too high. Cardiology and heart surgery waiting lists could double in the next few years due to the pandemic.