Thousands of deaths due to heart attacks could be prevented
- May 10, 2016
- EmmaArnold
The NHS failed to follow its own guidelines with care to those who have suffered a first heart attack causing 33,000 people to die in the past decade, research has shown.
The study from the British Heart Foundation, the University of Leeds and University College London found doctors were missing opportunities to prevent thousands of deaths.
According to NHS guidelines, doctors should give a certain medicine (statins) to patients after they've suffered a heart attack as well as anti-clotting drugs.
Patients should also be advised to stop smoking and told to exercise more.
However, the research found that nearly nine out of ten patients did not receive one of these recommended interventions which could increase their risk of a heart attack in the future.
Hannah Bottomley, clinical negligence solicitor at PotterReesDolan, said:
It is always shocking and distressing to read reports and studies which find that deaths could have been avoided with different and better care but the figures being discussed in this new research are staggering and make for some compelling, if worrying, reading.
I often deal with families who have lost loved ones and I understand the additional emotional stress a death due to a medical mistake with the knowledge that the death could have been avoided places on them.
After studying cases of NSTEMI heart attacks (the most common type) in 247 hospitals in England and Wales, researchers found being given dietary advice was most frequently missed by doctors.
Researchers believe identifying a problem through these findings means the issues can be fixed and only simple interventions, such as prescribing statins, can save a life.