Health experts have warned that thousands of Brits could be at risk for an “early death” as new figures show the number of people waiting for vital heart care is at a record high. The latest data from NHS England show that patients waiting over four months for time-critical heart care rose to 169,066 in June this year in England alone. This latest rise means that 40 percent of people on the cardiac care waiting list in England are waiting longer than the maximum target treatment time of 18 weeks.
The longer people wait for treatment, the higher their risk of becoming disabled from heart failure or dying prematurely, the British Heart Foundation (BHF) has warned. This was the eighth consecutive month that the cardiac waiting list rose, as it now totals 426,460, an increase of over 5,000 on the previous month. Doctor Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director and consultant cardiologist at the BHF, said: “Long waits for time-critical heart care put people at risk of life-long heart failure or even early death.
“That’s why it is so alarming that we keep seeing more people on waiting lists, and now 40 per cent of people are waiting longer than they should. “We cannot and must not become numb to this heart care crisis. Action is needed now to prevent more avoidable loss of life.
Patients and their families need to see a comprehensive heart disease action plan from Government that ensures cardiovascular care is fit for the future.” The charity is now calling on th.