Patrick Hurley, MP for Southport, met with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool to discuss the urgent need to address the UK’s heart care crisis.
Over the past six decades, the UK has made huge strides in improving outcomes for people living with heart and circulatory diseases. However, this progress is now at risk.
Tragically, recent BHF analysis has shown that the rate of premature deaths from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK has risen to a 10-year high, after half a century of progress.
Patrick Hurley MP heard that the BHF are calling on the new Government to make heart disease a key priority and are urging all MPs to be champions for heart patients. The charity is calling for a Heart Disease Action Plan that includes action on three fronts to stop this crisis in its tracks as part of its Hearts Need More campaign:
- Protection: better prevention of heart disease and stroke by addressing drivers like obesity, smoking and air pollution;
- Focus: prioritisation of NHS heart care to minimise the time it takes for people to get help;
- Breakthroughs: supercharging research to unlock future treatments and cures.
At the end of July 2024, the waiting list for time-critical heart care reached 427,154 in England alone. The cardiac waiting list for Cheshire & Merseyside ICS was 21,200 in the same month. We also know that waiting lists for cardiac care in Wales, and for cardiology appointments in Scotland, are the highest on record.
The Hearts Need More campaign has also highlighted that up to 11,000 early deaths a year from heart and circulatory diseases could be avoided by 2035 in England with the help of a Heart Disease Action Plan, according to analysis by the BHF.
Heart care can’t wait. Delays to vital tests and treatment put heart patients in danger of avoidable disability or even premature death. And with millions of people living with an elevated risk of heart attack or stroke, we risk further pressure on our already overstretched health service.
Over 44,000 people have so far backed the campaign to fix the heart care crisis.
During the party conference, Patrick Hurley MP met with the BHF to discuss the bold and co-ordinated action needed to save more lives from heart attacks and strokes, which could ultimately save the UK economy billions.
Patrick Hurley MP for Southport said: “I’m pleased to join the BHF in drawing attention to the critical need to address the continuing crisis in heart care. It’s deeply concerning that there have been more early deaths than expected involving heart disease and stroke, and we must do more to prevent a rising tide of these deadly conditions.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the BHF, said: “We are in the grip of an unprecedented heart care crisis. People with heart conditions across the UK face devastatingly long and stressful waits for care that takes its toll on families and costs lives.
“We’ve already lost a decade of progress and are paying the price with people’s hearts and lives. With a new Parliament in place, there’s no better time for all political parties to make a commitment to bold and co-ordinated action. We urgently need a comprehensive Heart Disease Action Plan to show us to way to a brighter and healthier future.”
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