Greg Smith MP met with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester to discuss the urgent need to address the crisis in heart care.
Over the past six decades, the UK has made huge strides in saving and improving more lives from heart and circulatory diseases. But even before the pandemic began, progress was stalling. Now in its wake and with unrelenting pressure on NHS services, the BHF worries that we could see a rising tide of cardiovascular disease in Buckinghamshire.
Tragically, since the onset of the pandemic, there have been an average of 500 additional deaths a week in England involving cardiovascular disease, which the charity believes is due to several factors, including Covid-19 and ongoing disruption to heart care.
Greg heard that the BHF is urging all political parties to prioritise tackling cardiovascular disease ahead of the next general election. The charity is calling for action on three fronts to stop this crisis in its tracks as part of its Hearts Need More campaign, highlighting that the nation’s hearts need more:
- Protection: better preventing heart disease and stroke by addressing drivers like obesity and smoking;
- Focus: prioritising 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 2023, over 400,000 people were waiting for time-critical heart care in England alone - a 73% increase from before the pandemic and the highest figure on record. The BHF says that long waits for heart care are dangerous, as they put people at increased risk of disability due to heart failure and premature death.
There are also millions of people across the UK living with conditions that put them at a significant risk of a heart attack or stroke. Up to 8 million people across the UK are estimated to have undiagnosed or uncontrolled high blood pressure, and there are stubbornly high rates of obesity.
During the party conference, Greg 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.
Commenting, Greg said, "I’m pleased to join the BHF in highlighting the urgent need to address the crisis in heart care. It’s deeply concerning that there have been more deaths than expected involving heart disease and stroke, and we must do more to prevent a rising tide of these deadly conditions.
“I agree with the BHF that Government must take comprehensive action to better prevent heart disease and stroke, prioritise NHS heart care, and to power research to find new treatments and cures.”
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the BHF, said: “We are in the grip of a heart care crisis, and it is having a truly devastating impact on people with heart conditions and their loved ones across the UK. Our hearts need and deserve more.
“We can’t risk undoing the progress we’ve made to save and improve more lives from conditions like heart attack and stroke over the last six decades. With a general election on the horizon, there’s no better time for all political parties to make a commitment to bold and co-ordinated action. Only with more protection, more focus and more research breakthroughs can we give people hope for a brighter, healthier future.”
