Recovery from pandemic needs commitment of long-term investment for NHS - James Jopling

James Jopling, Head of BHF Scotland

There is no doubt the events of the last 18 months have been unprecedented. While the Covid-19 pandemic has had, and continues to have, a huge impact on our lives, it has also created unprecedented challenges for NHS services including those which support people with heart and circulatory diseases across Scotland.

Research suggests that people with heart and circulatory diseases such as coronary heart disease and heart failure are at increased risk of severe complications from coronavirus and an increased risk of death. And the long-term health implications on the heart and circulatory system for people who have had Covid-19 are a huge concern for us.

Restrictions necessary to deal with Covid-19, such as the cancellation of face-to-face appointments and limits on appointment numbers to ensure social distancing, have placed increasing strain on services. We know that restricted access to GP services reduced the number of people presenting in the community with heart and circulatory diseases and associated risk factors, while others also put off going to A&E departments when unwell early in the pandemic.

As we slowly emerge from the crisis, many of these people are now coming forward.

Our NHS has shown incredible will to address the problems it faces, with staff working under the most difficult of circumstances. We cannot thank them enough for their efforts to tackle the pandemic and to address the subsequent backlog of care. While they are doing all they can to see people as quickly as possible, staff are now seeing a significant surge in demand. As a result, some waiting times for cardiac care have increased.

Latest figures available from Public Health Scotland have shown that in March 2021, 32 per cent of people were waiting 12 weeks or more for a cardiology appointment in Scotland compared to 17 per cent in December 2019.

This additional pressure highlights significant challenges for Scotland’s heart disease services. But it is important to stress that these challenges were not caused by the pandemic. The events of the last 18 months have brought into sharper focus challenges that were there, even before the pandemic began. It is crucial therefore that the recovery of the NHS focuses on building back services that are sustainable for the future.

At the beginning of this year, BHF Scotland published its strategy to support heart disease services in Scotland, based on our work with clinicians and patients from across the country, who told us of the key issues they wanted to be addressed. Our strategy identified a number of priorities and several significant areas of challenge, including workforce planning and the collection and use of data.

In March, we welcomed the publication of the Scottish Government’s Heart Disease Action Plan which included many of the recommendations of our own strategy. But unfortunately, the initial associated investment - £2.2 million - failed to match the ambition of the plan.

We believe the funding earmarked for this strategy will not create the sustainable improvement to services that people affected by heart and circulatory diseases in Scotland need. Without funding, important work to create improved and lasting services, supported by robust data and a sustainable workforce, will not be possible.

Around 700,000 people are living with heart and circulatory diseases in Scotland – and they cause the deaths of around 50 people here each day. It is crucial therefore that the recovery from the pandemic is supported with a commitment of long-term investment for the improvement of NHS services.

As an example of this commitment, the Scottish Government must provide significantly greater funding to its Heart Disease Action Plan. The plan’s actions have the potential to create transformational improvement to services across Scotland but without this funding, these changes cannot be achieved.

James Jopling, Head of BHF Scotland