A DRASTIC drop in hospital admissions among heart failure patients in the West Midlands could mean thousands have not received the correct care.
This was the stark warning of British Heart Foundation which has being monitoring hospital admissions during the first wave of the pandemic.
Analysis by the leading health charity found there were 12,965 heart failure hospital admissions in the region between January and September 2019.
However, this fell to 9,915 during the same period in 2020, representing a 24 per cent drop.
The charity said that patients may be fearful of catching Covid-19 and do not want to add pressure on the NHS, which could be contributing towards a decrease in admissions.
A lack of treatment could mean that people living with the condition could experience worse symptoms.
Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at British Heart Foundation, said: “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has been an anxious and isolating time for many people living with heart failure.
“We know the health service is working extremely hard to treat all patients, but our analysis suggests some patients may have fallen through the cracks and become invisible to the system.
“Now, as we come out of the pandemic, is the time to focus on resuming and improving care, so people with heart failure are able to have a better quality of life, for longer.”
