Fear of hospitals ‘killed thousands’
THE lockdown saw a devastating increase in the number of people dying at home from heart attacks and strokes, a major study reveals.
Experts said the Government’s ‘ stay at home’ message scared people into staying away from hospital, even when they desperately needed medical help – resulting in 2,085 ‘excess deaths’.
Deaths in private homes from cardiovascular causes rose by a third from March to June in England and Wales, according to the first detailed assessment of death certificates. Care homes also saw these deaths soar by a third, suggesting vulnerable people simply were not getting the care they needed when all the attention was on Covid-19.
Researcher Professor Chris Gale, a cardiologist at the University of Leeds, said: ‘These are deaths that should not have happened. We were in full lockdown and the message to stay at home was taken literally. People were not seeking care and many died as a result.
‘The indirect death toll may well end up surpassing the direct toll of Covid.’
Doctors have been warning since March that they were seeing fewer people in hospitals and GP surgeries. Figures earlier this month revealed that NHS admissions for common conditions dropped by 173,000 between March and June.
The damning new assessment, published last night in the Heart medical journal and shared exclusively with the Daily Mail, reveals deaths from heart disease in private homes surged by 35 per cent in the four months from March, resulting in 2,279 more fatalities than had been seen on average over the previous six years. Cardiovascular deaths in care homes and hospices jumped by 32 per cent in the same period.
At the same time, heart and stroke deaths in hospitals dropped by roughly 1,400. This means some of those who died at home or in care would probably have died even if they had received hospital treatment. But even taking that into account, the researchers calculated there were 2,085 ‘excess deaths’ in England and Wales due to heart disease and strokes during the first wave of coronavirus – an increase of 8 per cent.
On average, that means 17 people needlessly died every day between March 2 and June 30.
Professor Gale said: ‘It is entirely plausible that a number of deaths could have been prevented if people had attended hospital quickly when they began to experience their heart attack or stroke.
‘The sad irony is that heart attack services remained fully operational and continued to deliver high-quality care during the peak of the pandemic.’
He said the Government’s actions saved a lot of lives by protecting the NHS, but added: ‘The consequence, the balance, was that people did not seek help, and they died as a result.’
With coronavirus infection rates rising, and a second lockdown a distinct possibility, ministers needed to think hard about how the NHS reacted, Professor Gale said.
Experts last night said the NHS must heed the findings.
Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, of the British Heart Foundation, said: ‘We need to restore and maintain care for heart and circulatory disease patients as a priority.’