Hull MP Emma Hardy calls for more investment for 'killer disease'

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vascular and Venous Disease, which Ms Hardy chairs, has reported major amputation rates are 30 per cent higher in the North in comparison to the South.

Vascular disease results from the build-up of fatty deposits in people’s arteries which interrupt the flow of blood around the body.

This can affect any organ, but the most commonly affected are the heart, legs and brain.

When this happens in the arteries to the legs, the restricted blood-flow can result in a variety of symptoms including intermittent pain, muscle wastage and ulcers which will not heal.

Ultimately it can, and does, result in limb loss.

This condition is known as peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

And patients in Hull are 46 per cent more likely to need a major amputation and 16 per cent more likely to have minor amputations when compared to the England average.

Speaking in the Commons during a debate on the NHS and coronavirus testing for staff, Ms Hardy said: “It is a killer disease that few seem to know about, despite the devastation it causes to so many lives.”

She added there was concern that coronavirus had stopped people seeking treatment and said: “As Dr Dan Carradice, a leading consultant on this condition at Hull Royal Infirmary, says, time is ticking, and the more quickly we can deal with this, the more urgently we can save limbs.”

Speaking afterwards she said: “I have long been calling for increased investment in Hull Hospitals vascular services from the Government.

“Our excellent NHS staff must have the equipment and funding to deliver their life saving care, and rest assured I shall carry on this campaign until we see these horrifying figures redressed.”