Scotland making good progress on heart disease and could make savings in cardiology services

Scotland has made good progress in reducing the numbers of people affected by heart disease, including reducing deaths, and the NHS (National Health Service) could save at least £4 million a year by making cardiology services more efficient.

An Audit Scotland report published today, Cardiology services, looks at how effectively these services are run, how much is spent and whether patients across the country get the same access to services. It also looks at some services in the community such as prescribing and prevention. More than 182,000 people in Scotland – 3.3 per cent of the country’s population – have heart disease and it kills more than 8,000 people a year.

The report finds there has been significant progress in tackling heart disease and developing services; death rates have dropped by 40 per cent in 10 years, more patients are getting better treatment and waiting times for treatment have fallen. However Scotland still has the highest rate of heart disease in Western Europe, and the NHS needs to ensure all patients get the services they need, such as those who may benefit from cardiac rehabilitation and heart failure patients.

The NHS spends at least £146 million a year on hospital cardiology services; this is a significant underestimate due to limited cost information and also does not include general practice and community treatment. From what information is available, Audit Scotland estimates at least £4.4 million could be saved a year by cutting prescribing costs, reducing hospital stays, treating more patients as day cases and using less invasive and cheaper tests to diagnose people.

Auditor General for Scotland, Robert Black said:

“Heart disease is the second highest cause of death in Scotland. The country needs to continue its efforts to prevent heart disease, including addressing issues such as obesity, smoking and physical inactivity.

“The NHS is making good progress in providing better treatment for more patients. People are living longer with heart disease, and patients are waiting a shorter time for cardiology treatment. The NHS needs to ensure services meet patients’ needs as efficiently as possible. It should make sure it has consistent and accurate information about cardiology services so local areas can monitor their performance, compare services and identify areas to improve services and save money.”