Patients wait months for important heart tests
People in other areas get vital check in just weeks
A quarter of patients in Lanarkshire are having to wait seven months for a heart test that could prove life-saving – while people in other Scottish regions are seen within weeks.
New stats by the British Heart Foundation also revealed that just 28 per cent of patients in the area have the vital echocardiogram test within a month of being considered at risk of heart disease.
In contrast, more than three quarters of patients served by NHS Lothian are seen within four weeks for the test, which detects damage to the heart.
Lanarkshire has the third highest rate of heart disease in Scotland, according to the BHF.
The “concerning” figures were revealed as the charity warned that funding for heart disease treatment has stalled in Scotland in recent years.
Data from April 1, 2019 through to October 31, 2020 showed NHS Lanarkshire trailing other parts of the country.
Only 368 patients (28.07per cent) received a test inside a month, with almost as many (305, or 23.26 per cent) only being seen after seven months.
As well as NHS Lothian, both NHS Borders and NHS Dumfries and Galloway managed to see more than 50 per cent of people within the first month of referral.
Of the five boards that responded to a Freedom of Information request by the BHF, NHS Lanarkshire was the only body that was seeing more than 20 per cent of patients for testing as late as seven months after initial concerns were raised.
After two months, only 35 per cent of people referred in Lanarkshire had the echo test carried out, compared to 90 per cent in Lothian.
David McColgan, senior policy and public affairs manager at BHF Scotland, said: “Heart disease is a major cause of ill health and death in Scotland and yet the Scottish Government’s plans to tackle heart disease haven’t been updated since 2014.
“During this time, there have been a lot of changes in the health care system, not least due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Health inequalities also remain.
“Rates of heart and circulatory diseases in the most deprived areas of Scotland are significantly higher than those in the least deprived areas.
“Dealing with these challenges and years of under investment means that new national priorities for addressing heart disease in Scotland are needed.
“That’s why BHF Scotland has been working with the clinical community and heart patients to identify them. As we look forward to the Scottish elections at Holyrood in May, we are calling on all political parties to commit to work with us to tackle these issues.”
Mental Health Minister Clare Haughey MSP defended her government’s record, but added that she has written to NHS Lanarkshire regarding the findings.
She said: “Heart disease remains a clinical priority for NHS Scotland and the Scottish Government.
“Later this year, the Scottish Government will be publishing a refreshed heart disease improvement plan.
“There has been substantive investment in and redesign of cardiology services, which has contributed to a reduction in the mortality rate by almost onethird over the past 10 years.
“However, these local waiting time figures are concerning.
“I have written to NHS Lanarkshire to seek assurances of the work they are undertaking to markedly reduce the time patients are waiting for echocardiograms.
“In the draft budget unveiled by the Scottish Government last week, it proposed an £18 million uplift to NHS Lanarkshire’s budget – which would be on top of an increase of almost £69m last year. I therefore urge opposition parties to back the government’s plans to ensure that NHS Lanarkshire receives this extra funding.”
Several health boards, including NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, declined to provide data for their region, citing cost concerns.
Judith Park, director of acute services, NHS Lanarkshire, said: “The coronavirus pandemic has impacted on our capacity to carry out echocardiograms across our sites. National guidance on physical distancing, staff shielding and Covid-related sickness has resulted in test numbers being reduced, however, our main focus is on patients with an urgent classification to ensure there is no risk to patients.
“Urgent patients are being appointed and will continue to receive tests based on clinical priority.
“We continue to work on a remobilisation and recovery plan to ensure that precoronavirus work continues and that backlogs are reduced as quickly as possible, when it is safe to do so.”