Kent pensioner who's waited more than 18 months for heart procedure backs national campaign
Dot is waiting to have a heart procedure, as Malcolm Shaw reports
A pensioner from Kent who has waited more than 18 months for a heart procedure is backing a national campaign to fix "the worst heart care crisis the country has ever faced".
Dot Addley, 80, from Faversham, first had symptoms of angina in November 2022, but she had to wait a year to have a scan to find out what was causing it.
A scan in November 2023 showed her right coronary artery was blocked. She was told she would need invasive treatment to unblock her artery as she was at increased risk of having a life-threatening heart attack.
It has been seven months since her scan and the retired NHS secretary has been told she will have the procedure this month (July).
Ms Addley said: “I didn’t use to feel my age. But my angina symptoms are now making it hard to do anything.
"I’ve had to stop doing the things I love, like going out bird watching and gardening, because the next day I’ll be so whacked out.
“I’m sure there are deserving people on the waiting list before me, and I wouldn’t want to jump in front of them.
"But I worry that by the time they attempt to put the stent in, it’ll be too late and I’ll be housebound.”
She added: "These treatments that are available should they be a right or should they be a privilege? And at the moment it seems as if they're almost a privilege whereas they probably ought to be a right."
Ms Addley is among more than 40,000 people backing a British Heart Foundation (BHF) campaign for change.
The BHF says delays to heart care can lead to an otherwise avoidable heart attack, permanent disability, or even death.
It added cardiovascular disease affects 7.6 million people across the UK, and it is one of the UK’s biggest killers, claiming one in four lives.
Since the Covid pandemic began in March 2020, the number of people in England waiting for planned heart care has almost doubled to nearly 420,000, the BHF said.
It's now drawing attention to the "ongoing and extreme waits for emergency, urgent and routine heart care" as part of its latest campaign, Hearts Need More.
The heart charity has launched an online pledge, which asks people to add their name if they support the charity’s call for the Government to take action to save and improve thousands more lives from heart and circulatory diseases.
More than 40,000 people have signed so far, with the charity hoping to reach 50,000 signatures.
Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive at the BHF, said: “Dot should never have had to wait so long for such vital treatment, and what’s tragic is that it’s not a one-off case.
"At the BHF, we get calls almost every day from people who have gone through stressful and often dangerous waits for heart tests, treatment, or even emergency care.
“We are firmly in the grip of the worst heart care crisis the country has ever faced. For the first time on record, we’re seeing a sustained rise in early heart disease and circulatory disease deaths. That means thousands more families ripped apart forever.
“We have a new Government with the power to stop this ongoing tragedy once and for all, but it will take everyone’s help."
The BHF wants to see a heart disease action plan from the new Government with three areas of focus: better preventing heart disease and stroke, making sure people get heart treatment in time, and supercharging cardiovascular research.
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The waiting list for routine hospital treatment has risen for the second month in a row.
An estimated 7.60 million treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of May, relating to 6.38 million patients – up slightly from 7.57 million treatments and 6.33 million patients at the end of April.
The new health secretary has ordered an independent investigation of NHS performance in England amid the backlog.
Wes Streeting described the service as 'broken' and said he wants "the investigation to tell the hard truths".