HALF a million Brits should have started vital heart meds during lockdown but did not get medical help.
Now 13,500 more people are at risk of serious illnesses like strokes and heart attacks because of the delays.
AlamyHundreds of thousands of UK patients missed out on prescriptions because of the pandemic[/caption]
The British Heart Foundation said there were 491,306 fewer first prescriptions for blood pressure lowering drugs between March 2020 and July 2021, compared to normal.
Monthly drops were worst during the toughest lockdowns in spring 2020 and January 2021.
Millions of people missed out on medical help during the Covid crisis after ministers’ pleas to protect the NHS.
BHF medical director Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan said: “Yet again we’re seeing clear evidence of the major disruption to healthcare people in the UK experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Read more on heart health
The study, published in the journal Nature Medicine, also found nearly 17,000 fewer people each month started cholesterol or fat-busting blood drugs like statins.
If all the patients went the rest of their lives without treatment, 13,500 would develop serious heart disease, the BHF said.
Some 3,000 of them would have a stroke and 2,000 a heart attack.
But the total can be slashed to 2,700 if the NHS roots everyone out in the next five years.
Around 15million people in the UK have high blood pressure and eight million take statins.
There are 100,000 heart attacks and 100,000 strokes each year.
Dr Babu-Narayan added: “It’s not too late to limit the damage.
“Getting heart healthcare back on track can curb the additional strain that would be put on the NHS.”
The study checked 1.32billion prescriptions from 15.8million Brits to find the trend.
Scripts for type 2 diabetes increased during the same time, which the scientists said could be because more people developed it from lazy lockdown lifestyles.
Study author Professor Reecha Sofat, from the University of Liverpool, added: “Measures to prevent infection spread were necessary and undoubtedly saved lives.
“The NHS has already taken positive steps towards identifying people with high blood pressure early but we need this focus to be sustained long-term.”