Health board trails others in heart checks
A leading health charity has called for an end to the “postcode lottery”that leaves NHS Lanarkshire trailing far behind health boards like NHS Lothian when it comes to vital heart check-ups.
We revealed earlier this year that hundreds of people across Lanarkshire have had to wait several months for echocardiogram tests to be carried out.
Statistics showed that almost as many patients were stuck waiting seven months or more for the check-up as those who were seen inside a month.
The figures were highlighted again in the ‘HeartValveVoice: State of the Nation Report’into heart disease in Scotland that was released last week.
Charity chiefs now want to see European standards on treatment pathways for symptomatic patients must be actioned.
TheEuropean standards state that symptomatic patients should be referred to a specialist valve clinic within two weeks, while asymptomatic patients must be referred for an echocardiogram within six weeks.
More than 350 (368) patients in Lanarkshire were seen within a month for an echocardiogram test –a scan that looks at the heart and other nearby blood vessels. That’s just 28 per cent.
However, 305 patients, or 23 per cent, were left to wait seven months or longer to have the test carried out, with NHS Lanarkshire saying their system is based on prioritising those most in need or urgent care.
In total, 71 per cent of Lanarkshire patients had to wait over a month before getting a scan, in comparisontoNHS Lothian, where the figure was just 22 per cent, or Dumfries and Galloway, where the figure was 43 per cent.
WilWoan, the chief executive at HeartValve Voice, said:“Scotland must committothesame quality of care as patients elsewhere in Europe.
“This guidance urges patients to be seen within a two to six week time frame.
“In some Scottish health boards patients are waiting up to 30 weeks to be seen.
“There is a postcode lottery for heart valve patients in Scotland.
“ForexampleNHS Lothian saw 78 per cent of patients in just one month, but sadly this isn’t the case across other areas.
“Long waiting lists have been exacerbated by Covid, but delays in diagnosis and treatment only lead to worse outcomes for the patient – and put undue pressure on other areas of the NHS, like emergency care.
“People must be diagnosed at the earliest opportunity to ensure that they can be appropriately treated as quickly as possible and get back to a good symptom-free quality of life.”
Judith Park, director of acute services, NHS Lanarkshire, cited Covid-19 as the main reason the backlog and delays.
She said:“The coronavirus pandemic has impacted on our capacity to carry out echocardiograms across our sites.
“National guidance on physical distancing and Covid-related sickness has resulted in test numbers being reduced.
“However, our main focus is on patients with an urgent classification to ensure that there is no risk to patients.
“Urgent patients are being appointed and will continue to receive tests based on clinical priority.
“Wecontinuetowork on a remobilisation and recovery plan to ensure that pre-coronavirus work continues and that backlogs are reduced as quickly as possible, when it is safe to do so.”
Heart valve disease affects around 73,000 Scottish patients across the country.