Heart disease deaths soar in England during Covid pandemic

Almost 5,000 more people in England have died from heart problems than would be expected since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, a charity has said.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) said there had been 4,622 “excess deaths” from heart and circulatory diseases between the start of the pandemic and mid-October.

As the Covid-19 second wave set in, the charity urged people not to put off seeking care. It has previously called for action after noticing that hundreds of relatively younger adults had been dying of heart problems in higher numbers than expected.

A third more deaths occurring at home than before Covid in England

Read more

The BHF calculated that in the under-65s alone there had been more than 800 additional deaths.

It said a number of factors could be behind the excess deaths, including:

• People putting off seeking care for fear of “putting pressure” on the NHS.

• People delaying seeking care for worrying symptoms for fear of contracting Covid-19 in health settings.

• Delays to surgeries and routine heart care.

The BHF has said that in late March the number of people attending accident and emergency units with a suspected heart attack dropped by 50%, but it says numbers have since risen.

The charity reminded people that during the second national lockdown in England “the NHS is open for you”.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: “We know that patients with heart and circulatory disease have been dying from it in numbers in excess of what we would expect since the beginning of the pandemic. And this is on top of also being at an increased risk of severe Covid-19 resulting in deaths.

“… I feel every death is a tragedy, no matter how old you are and what your circumstance, whether it’s from Covid-19 or not.

“Equally, going forward, we must learn lessons from this pandemic and it seems that it’s very important that we do maintain access to cardiovascular care despite the winter surge and coronavirus resurgence so that we can, wherever possible, reduce these excess deaths.”

Babu-Narayan cited a YouGov poll which found that among patients who had noticed a worsening of their health conditions, 56% did not seek help because they did not want to put pressure on the health service.

She said: “I wouldn’t want people to be so worried about protecting the NHS that the patient doesn’t get protection themselves.

“If you have a heart condition remember the NHS is open for you. And it’s here to protect you, rather than you having to worry about protecting it.”

She said anyone who thought they were having a heart attack or a stroke should call 999 and go to hospital.

“Every minute matters in terms of saving your life and avoiding disability from those conditions.”

She added that if people were getting more chest pain or breathlessness during activities, or the pain was lasting for longer they should seek medical advice. “You may need to have your treatment brought forward or your investigation brought forward,” she said.

“If you are offered your regular check-up or appointment, don’t delay or reschedule because that could be a really important test for you to attend, and in no way is the lockdown intended to mean that you shouldn’t attend your hospital appointment when invited.”

Dr Nick Linker, the national clinical director for heart disease for the NHS in England, said: “The NHS continued to offer treatment for urgent and routine heart problems throughout the pandemic and the number of people seeking emergency care quickly rebounded during the first wave, after some people had initial concerns about coming forward for care.

“Going into the second wave, hospitals are continuing to redesign services so that care can go ahead safely, and our message remains the same: if you have symptoms, help us help you by coming forward so we can get you the care you need.”