Harrogate Heart Support Group Chairman, Mel Clark, joined a group of campaigners from across the country at the Houses of Parliament recently. They were demanding a renewed commitment from all political parties to tackle heart and circulatory disease – the UK’s biggest killer – during the next decade.

Mel met with Phil Willis MP for Harrogate & Knaresborough who is supporting a planned and published approach to protect the heart health of the nation. The calls are backed by a 150,000 signature petition from people calling for a new heart plan (1).

Phil has previously been active in Parliament supporting Mel with the BHF campaign for cardiac rehabilitation to be made accessible to all heart patients.
Currently only about 40% of patients with heart attack, heart failure or major surgery access this life enhancing therapy.
‘It is really great to have such support from our MP and it has made an impact’ says Mel.

Mel had a heart bypass operation in 1996 and was lucky enough to have had the benefit of a rehab programme provided by Harrogate District hospital.
The success of the programme has given Mel many added years of enjoyable health and he now devotes much time and energy campaigning locally and nationally of behalf of less fortunate patients.

Mel is currently Chairman of Harrogate Heart Support Group which provides support in a number of ways for patients and carers and can be contacted at Tel; 01423 883131 for information.

The British Heart Foundation is calling for (2):

A clear target to reduce heart and circulatory disease in England to one of the lowest in Western Europe by 2020.
A single front of pack food labelling scheme to enable shoppers to make healthy food choices easily.
Cardiac rehabilitation for every patient who is suitable and wishes to take part in this life saving treatment.
Improvements in tackling health inequalities by the introduction of health equality impact assessments for all new policies and services.
The number of people dying from cardiovascular disease has fallen, but the UK still lags behind other western countries.

Peter Hollins, Chief Executive at the BHF said:

“There has been tremendous progress over the last ten years – but heart disease is responsible for a third of all deaths in the UK. We need to go further and faster to beat this.

“Patients still don’t receive life saving treatments like cardiac rehabilitation – if this were a pill it would have been on the NHS years ago. Heart and circulatory disease remains disproportionately high amongst people living in disadvantaged communities. We need a Government that is willing to tackle the UK’s biggest killer head on with a new heart plan to ensure patients are given the heart health care they deserve.”
The BHF is a member of the Cardio & Vascular Coalition (CVC), a group of 41 voluntary organisations including Diabetes UK, the Stroke Association and Kidney Research UK who are calling on the next Government to address gaps in treatment provision and deal with inequalities in order to reduce premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (3).

Take part in the online lobby by visiting bhf.org.uk/campaigns

ENDS

See photo gallery for photo

For more information please call Mel Clark on 01423 883131, Phil Willis MP on 01423 528888 or the BHF press office on 020 7554 0164 or 07764 290 381 (out of office hours) or email newsdesk@bhf.org.uk