Excess deaths involving CVD in England since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis and explainer (BHF, 21 June 2023)

Summary

Publicly available data from the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) shows a persistently high number of excess deaths involving cardiovascular disease (CVD) in England since the beginning of the pandemic. This analysis of by the British Heart Foundation looks at this situation in more detail.

Content

Key findings

• As of June 2023, there have been nearly 100,000 excess deaths in England involving CVD since the beginning of the pandemic.
• On average, there have been over 500 additional deaths a week involving CVD since the pandemic began.
• While deaths from Covid-19 have fallen year-on-year since the beginning of the pandemic, the number of deaths involving CVD have remained high above expected levels.
• Excess deaths involving CVD outnumber those involving all other individual disease areas since the beginning of the pandemic in England.

In light of these findings, the British Heart Foundation is calling on the Government to:

• make NHS heart care a priority.
• improve prevention of heart disease and stroke.
• invest in research for treatments and cures.