Heart patients forced to wait over a year for treatment in England

Waiting lists are at a record high, almost double since 2020, with heart disease being the largest cause of premature death in deprived areas

Fifteen hospital trusts across England each have more than 200 patients waiting longer than a year for heart procedures, NHS figures reveal.

The British Heart Foundation (BHF) warns that heart care waiting lists are now at a record high, reaching 414,596 at the end of March 2024 in England, almost double what it was in 2020. The number of people waiting longer than a year for heart tests and treatments has risen to 10,893. Four years ago, the figure was just 53.