NHS coronary heart care in disaster as deaths in under-75s surge
NHS heart care is going backwards, with the highest number of under-75s dying in more than a decade, a major Government report will say.
The review by cancer surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi will warn the state of NHS care is undoing progress made in the 1970s on heart disease and waiting times.
It is expected to highlight how long waits for ambulances and emergency surgery following heart attacks are seeing deaths rise again.
Patients with cardiovascular problems are also facing a ‘postcode lottery’ in parts of the UK.
Commissioned by the new Labour Government, the report aims to address what Sir Keir Starmer calls the ‘broken NHS’.
The review by cancer surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi (pictured) will warn the state of NHS care is undoing progress made in the 1970s on heart disease and waiting times
Patients with cardiovascular problems are also facing a ‘postcode lottery’ in parts of the UK (file image)
The findings, to be published on Thursday, are likely to shape the Government’s ten-year plan ‘to radically reform the NHS’.
Lord Darzi will warn children’s health is facing a deadly crisis, with life-threatening illnesses, obesity and infectious diseases all going up.
British Heart Foundation chief executive Dr Charmaine Griffiths said: ‘It’s encouraging to hear the review will recognise the huge challenges facing cardiovascular care and the 6.4 million people living with heart and circulatory diseases in England.’
The number of people dying before the age of 75 in England has risen to the highest level in 14 years, the charity said, from a low of 71 per 100,000 people in 2019 to 79 per 100,000.
