The British Heart Foundation has warned that the devastating disruption to heart disease care caused by the pandemic could put lives at risk for years to come.

The charity predicts that official figures due this autumn will show a rise in the UK’s heart and circulatory disease death rate for 2020, prompting fears that decades of progress could reverse in the coming years.

The rise is due to 5,800 more deaths than would be expected (excess deaths) from conditions including heart attack and stroke in England during the first year of the pandemic, despite the NHS working harder than ever. The British Heart Foundation says that the spike in deaths is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’.

Missed opportunities to prevent and diagnose heart and circulatory diseases, an unprecedented backlog of people waiting for care, and a cliff-edge fall in research funding could amount to a loss of progress for a generation and lives cut short from treatable heart conditions.  

According to BHF, approximately 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. On top of this, GP referrals to specialist heart doctors in England fell by 29 per cent in 2020.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, our Associate Medical Director 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.

“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.

“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. Averting this disaster will require clear plans that help the NHS to recover, bolster public health, and revive the hard-hit medical research charity sector. Getting this right could protect thousands of lives from heart and circulatory diseases for years to come.”