A report from the British Heart Foundation highlights that tackling health inequalities is essential to drive improvements in cardiovascular disease.

Tackling health inequalities is essential to drive improvements in cardiovascular disease. 

A report from the British Heart Foundation points to a range of factors which exacerbate the disease including higher rates of obesity and smoking, and less effective detection and management of conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Patients from deprived areas also have less planned treatment than those in affluent areas, and also struggle to access cardiac rehabilitation.

The report mirrors the nearly 90% of doctors who responded to a Royal College of Physicians survey in late April who said that they were concerned about the impact of health inequalities on their patients. Healthcare Today also reported at the end of February on huge disparities in cancer care across the country. People living in more deprived areas are more likely to be diagnosed late and offered less effective treatments.

“Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest drivers of health inequalities across all our four nations, a price that people pay in both length of life, as well as quality of life,” said Charmaine Griffiths, chief executive of the British Heart Foundation. 

“We must do better – we cannot accept a world in which someone’s chances of living in good health, or staying well enough to enjoy our later years, are set by factors such as where we are from, our sex, or our ethnicity.”

Unconscious bias

The report highlights the links between deprivation and risk of cardiovascular disease. It finds that in every UK nation, more deprived people are at greater risk of dying prematurely from heart disease.  

Patients from deprived areas also have less planned treatment than those in affluent areas, and also struggle to access cardiac rehabilitation.

Women also face significant barriers when it comes to receiving timely and effective care. This ranges from misdiagnosis caused by clinical bias to inadequate treatment and management of cardiovascular disease in women. 

Women have also historically been poorly represented in cardiovascular research, meaning knowledge gaps drive inequalities women experience.

“The misperception that cardiovascular disease is a man’s disease has also resulted in unconscious bias during clinical decision-making and care, leaving women inadequately treated for cardiovascular conditions,” notes Julie Marsh, partner within the medical negligence team at Boyes Turner.