Around 30,000 extra heart disease deaths have occurred in England since the start of the covid-19 pandemic, a charity has said, as it warned further lives will be lost as NHS waiting lists grow.
A report from the British Heart Foundation (BHF) said patients are still dying needlessly due to severe ambulance delays, difficulties in accessing care and rising waiting lists for treatments and diagnoses. Its analysis shows there have been, on average, more than 230 extra deaths per week over and above what would be expected for heart disease since the start of the pandemic.
NHS figures show that ambulances in England took an average of 47 minutes and 59 seconds in September to respond to emergency calls such as for a suspected heart attack. This was up from 42 minutes and 44 seconds in August and well above the target of 18 minutes.
