Heart Valve Voice News

Heart valve disease is a serious cardiovascular condition which can be fatal if left untreated. Following on from our Heart Health Survey, Global Heart Hub’s Heart Valve Disease Patient Council has partnered with The Health Policy Partnership, an independent health policy research organisation, to develop a report aiming to raise stakeholder awareness of heart valve disease across Europe.

Heart Valve Voice’s new partnership with the UK Valve For Life initiative could not have come at a more critical time for valve disease patients, according to CEO, Wil Woan. The initiative is run by the European Association of Percutaneous Cardiovascular Interventions (EAPCI), and will be promoting transcatheter valve interventions, which could be crucial in rapidly reducing the waiting lists built up during the COVID-19 crisis.

COVID-19 has placed an extraordinary strain on our lives, our communities and our NHS. Because of this pressure, thousands of patients have experienced delays to treatments. While we understand that tough decisions need to be made to ease the strain on our NHS, we have a simple message to our care centres - just treat us. 

Angie's valve disease story started when she was a small girl after she was born with a hole in her heart. Fast forward 40 years and Angie's leaky valve began to deteriorate. After being told she needed an operation, a pandemic stopped the world in its tracks. However, despite the pressures on the health service, thanks to the brilliant work of the team at Harefield, Angie was able to receive her life-saving treatment.

Across the country, COVID-19 infections continue to rise, and as the infection rates rise, so too do hospital admissions and, sadly, deaths. As we move forward in this second wave of COVID-19 response, we must learn from the first wave. For most people suffering from heart valve disease, the consequences of not being treated far outweigh the risk of contracting COVID-19 whilst in hospital. Therefore, the first lesson we should take from the first wave is to continue to treat heart valve disease patients in a timely and safe way. 

Birmingham MP, Steve McCabe was diagnosed with heart valve disease eight years ago. As with many heart valve disease patients he had not experienced any obvious symptoms.

In December 2018, 33 year old Support Worker at Autism Together, Jeanine Jones was celebrating the birth of her first daughter, Phoebe. Flash forward four months and she was being raced across Liverpool to Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital with her heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and brain starting to fail. There, she received her life saving double valve replacement.

Gary Russel is a 52-year-old Civil Servant from London. After being diagnosed with heart valve disease in his twenties at a medical to join the Police Force, his valve disease story went on for two decades before he was treated in 2013.

While the outbreak of COVID-19 has placed unprecedented pressure on the NHS, Public Health England's admissions data points towards a concerning trend of people avoiding hospitals out of fear of contracting COVID-19. While concerns around COVID-19 are understandable, by not receiving urgent treatments, patients may be putting their lives at risk.

At the very height of the COVID-19 outbreak, retired postman and hospital worker, Lewis Benn, was awaiting treatment for severe aortic stenosis. Having been told he would have to wait till September, Lewis feared for his life, but thanks to the excellent work of Dr Dan Blackman and the team at Leeds General Infirmary, Lewis was admitted, treated and discharged over the course of just 3 days. Here, is his story.