We welcome the increased tax on tobacco and e-cigarette products announced in today’s Spring Budget and the UK Government’s support for medical research charities. However, we are concerned that we are not addressing the urgent crisis in cardiac care.

prevent heart disease

Today’s measures aimed at reducing the harm caused by tobacco and restricting access to electronic cigarettes and e-cigarettes for young people and non-smokers are welcome.

Smoking accounts for 15,000 deaths from heart and circulatory diseases in the UK each year. Raising tobacco taxes would demonstrate that the government is serious about limiting tobacco affordability and achieving its bold ambition of creating the first smoke-free generation.

We also support a tax on e-cigarettes. This will make it harder for children and young people to access e-cigarettes and enable Border Force and HMRC to better deal with illegal e-cigarettes. We look forward to the Tobacco Vaping Bill bringing further steps to reduce the appeal of e-cigarettes to children.

This tax should be carefully designed to ensure that e-cigarettes remain available to those who believe they can help people quit smoking, the best thing they can do for their heart health.

E-cigarettes are a tool to help smokers quit, but they are not without risks and should not be used by people who have never smoked, especially children. Further research is needed into the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on the heart and blood vessels.

It was disappointing that the government did not announce a plan to tackle stubbornly high obesity levels, another major contributing factor to heart disease. This represents a missed opportunity to build on the success of the soft drinks industry tax and encourage further reform of unhealthy foods and drinks.

It was also disappointing that funding for public health grants, which fund vital services such as smoking cessation support and NHS health checks, was not increased.

supercharge research

We are delighted that the Government has recognized the value of continued partnerships with medical research charities and has committed £45 million to support early career researchers (ECRs) through the Early Career Researcher Support Fund .

This support will provide over £100m over three years, strengthening our ability to fund the best research talent as they grow their careers, and supporting the best and most impactful work that philanthropy can do. Provide research.

The budget was also an opportunity to set new long-term and ambitious research and development (R&D) investment targets. It was unfortunate that the government could not take advantage of this opportunity. Without these, the UK government will struggle to advance its scientific superpower ambitions.

Mental care in times of crisis

The NHS Productivity Plan announced includes targeted funding for NHS IT systems and modernization as part of a pledge to improve productivity across the health service.

We know speeding up slow administrative processes in the NHS is a positive move for staff, but we fear it will not solve widespread workforce shortages that are contributing to long waiting times for heart treatment. Concerns remain.

It is disappointing that the government has not announced more comprehensive support for our struggling health system. Cardiac patients are experiencing dangerously long waits for time-critical treatments, and the treatment backlog continues to grow.

While overall waiting lists have fallen slowly in recent days, heart disease waiting lists continue to rise against the trend, with more than 400,000 people in the UK waiting for heart treatment.

Heart patients need to hear from the government how they can get the treatment they need on time, whether it’s an ambulance for a heart attack or medicine to help avoid future heart attacks and strokes.

Stopping the heart care crisis in its tracks requires three steps: improving the prevention of heart disease and stroke, prioritizing heart care in the NHS, and strengthening cardiovascular research to develop breakthrough new treatments. We need to take bold action on all fronts. And it will heal.

our comments

Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, said: “It is shocking that tobacco still causes 15,000 cardiovascular deaths each year in the UK. We welcome the measures announced today to ensure this remains out of reach. No.

“We are delighted that the Government is supporting medical research philanthropy through the Early Years Investigator Support Fund. This will strengthen our ability to fund the best cardiovascular researchers as they grow their careers. , supporting the long-term development of our life-saving research in the best interests of patients.

“However, today’s budget was a missed opportunity to comprehensively address the extreme and continuing disruption to heart care. Heart patients need reassurance that care will be provided on time. It is unfortunate that the government is not prioritizing this important issue.”

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