A study in the Lancet has revealed that over 1,500 heart attack victims are dying every year in the UK due to poor care and treatment delays. The research found that not being able to ensure that patients in the country receive fast and appropriate treatment has cost at least 11,000 lives over the period of seven years.
It was also reported that death rates are one third higher than anywhere else. According to cardiologists, national medical guidelines were not followed, due to which not a high number of patients in the country were given balloon angioplasty or stent replacement in order to open narrowed arteries after suffering from a heart attack. Moreover, patients suffered worse outcomes as they did not get the right drugs to help them recover after they left the hospital.
Researchers compared the survival of more than 500,000 heart attack victims who were treated in 242 hospitals in the UK and 86 hospitals in Sweden from 2004 until 2010. It was discovered that death rates within one month of a heart attack were higher in the UK by one third, 10.5 percent compared to 7.6 percent in Sweden.
It was also found that patients in Sweden were far more likely to receive immediate treatment to unblock their arteries.
Photo Credits: Guardian UK
