'Sea change'in heart attack care

FEWER patients are dying from heart attacks due to a “sea change” in NHS services, doctors claim today.

Latest figures show that for the first time, the majority of heart attack patients in England received the gold-standard treatment in 2009-10 for the condition.

Almost two-thirds of eligible patients had their damaged artery opened with a balloon, in a process known as primary angioplasty, while the remaining numbers had clot-busting drugs.

In the previous 12 months, only 44 per cent of patients had primary angioplasty which is given to patients from Yorkshire at hospitals in Leeds, Sheffield, Hull and Middlesbrough.

Last year more than 1,300 patients from the region underwent the procedure. Nationally 80 per cent had the operation within two-and-a-half hours of calling for help.

Doctors said the results showed there had been a “significant sea-change” in NHS services, with “huge progress” towards better patient outcomes.

National heart tzar Prof Roger Boyle said: “This treatment is a clear example of how the NHS can improve outcomes for patients through more efficient services – it is associated with shorter hospital stays and better patient outcomes.”