76% fewer vital heart ultrasounds in Rochdale borough during lockdown

Fewer heart ultrasounds were carried out in the Rochdale borough after lockdown began, according to the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Latest NHS England data shows the number of completed echocardiograms fell by 76% across April and May compared to February this year in the Rochdale borough.

Echocardiograms, also known as echo tests, are ultrasound scans that enable doctors to diagnose, give a prognosis, and determine follow-up treatment for a range of heart conditions, such as heart valve disease, and heart failure.

The figures show the considerable impact the pandemic has had on patient treatment and care. Only 320 echo tests were carried out in April and May this year, compared to 672 completed in February.

The BHF says heart patients have been hit doubly hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. Long waits for tests like echocardiograms could lead to more deaths from undiagnosed heart conditions. At the same time, people living with heart and circulatory disease are more likely to develop complications from Covid-19.

As the number of completed echo tests has fallen, patients have been waiting longer for these tests due to a fall in GP referrals and the temporary pausing of cardiology services for all but the most urgent cases.

Long-term delays to this kind of treatment and care could lead to a devastating domino effect which results in greater pressure on hospitals and worsening health for patients, according to the BHF. The leading charity is calling for heart services to be reinstated quickly and safely as a priority.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, Associate Medical Director at the BHF and Consultant Cardiologist, said: “Heart patients have been hit doubly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. Not only are they at greater risk of complications from Covid-19, but they have also faced delays to vital treatment and care.

“Echocardiograms and other tests are used to diagnose and monitor a range of heart and circulatory conditions and are often among the first steps in someone’s treatment journey. Delaying them could have a devastating knock-on effect on the rest of their care, preventing them from accessing the specialist treatments they may desperately need in time. Ultimately, this could lead to patients becoming sicker as they await care and, ultimately, more deaths.

“Restoring and maintaining care for patients living with long-term conditions, such as heart and circulatory diseases, must now become a priority.”

The latest figures come as BHF-funded research published this week also showed how important echo imaging can be for patients with coronavirus in hospital. The paper, published in European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Imaging, revealed that one in three patients hospitalised with Covid-19 who received an echocardiography scan had their treatment changed as a result.

The BHF is now calling for the full breadth of heart services to be restored step by step as the NHS begins to look beyond just providing emergency care.

A spokesperson for the NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group said: "NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group saw a similar reduction in echocardiograms as Greater Manchester and England as non-urgent activity was cancelled as per national guidelines during the pandemic. All appropriate cardiac investigations, including echocardiograms have been available in emergency situations throughout the pandemic.

"Working with Northern Care Alliance (NCA) and partners, NCA maintained a service for urgent inpatient and outpatient echocardiography.

"In accordance with the more recent national guidance, NCA have restarted routine lists and the test is now being offered daily on all hospital sites. Capacity has been reduced to allow for additional cleaning which means fewer patients can be seen, however NCA are currently undertaking an exercise to identify the resources needed to run patient lists at the weekends and aim to start this by mid-August 2020."