Heart patient facing 'frightening' hospital wait

A patient who was diagnosed with potential heart problems has spoken of his "shock" after being told he may have to wait a year to see a specialist.

Terry Eccles, 78, from Hessay, near York, was referred to see a cardiologist after scans detected a build up of calcium in one of his coronary arteries in October.

He spoke out as new NHS data showed that in May just 52.4% of cardiology patients at York and Scarborough hospitals had begun non-urgent treatment within the 18-week target.

York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust said it prioritised patients based on "urgency of need" but some patients were waiting "longer than we would like".

Mr Eccles spent a week in York Hospital after being admitted via A&E with stomach pain.

He was diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer, while a CT scan also identified "coronary artery calcification", which can be a risk factor for heart disease.

Once discharged, he was referred by his GP to see a specialist but received a letter from York Hospital in December that warned some people could be "waiting up to 52-weeks for their cardiology appointment".

Mr Eccles, who is diabetic, so at a greater risk of heart problems, said he felt "angry" at first but then "sad" the NHS should be under such pressure.

"When I got the letter, I was expecting it to say here is your appointment to see the specialist," he said.

"What I was shocked at was that it said you may not see a specialist for up to 52-weeks and beyond.

"That was both frightening and a shock."

Mr Eccles said while he felt reassured cases were prioritised on clinical need he worried that "every chest pain" could be the start of a heart attack.

NHS Data for May 2025 revealed big differences in waiting times for cardiology patients at hospitals in Yorkshire.

The target is that 92% of non-urgent patients should start their first treatment within 18-weeks of a referral.

While York and Scarborough hospitals only reached 52.4%, Harrogate Hospital saw 83.5% within time and at Leeds Teaching Hospitals it was 98.3%.

Across England waiting lists for heart care fell for the second month in a row, although there were more than 400,000 patients still waiting to be seen.

Dr Sonya Babu-Narayan, clinical director at the British Heart Foundation said: "The tide seems to be turning for cardiovascular disease in line with waiting lists for other conditions – hopefully this is the start of an ongoing trend that will continue into winter.

"However, there are still around 400,000 people waiting far too long for time-sensitive heart tests and treatment.

"Such delays risk avoidable disability and can even cost lives."

The government has made reducing waiting lists a key priority and launched a 10-year plan to transform the NHS earlier this month.

A spokesperson for York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: "We're working hard to see patients as quickly as possible and have made good progress in reducing overall waiting times, which have grown as a result of the pandemic and rising demand.

"However, we fully acknowledge that some people are still waiting longer than we would like, particularly for routine referrals.

"We completely understand how difficult and worrying these waits can be, and we're sorry for this."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We inherited a situation where too many people are waiting too long for cardiology care, but we are working at pace to turn this around.

"Figures out Thursday (10 July) show month-on-month improvement in the cardiology waiting list both nationally and regionally, with the waiting list down by 9,000 across the country and down 1,000 across the North East and Yorkshire.

"NHS waiting lists have also fallen in May for the first time in 17 years, dropping by more than 260,000 since July 2024.

"This recovery through our Plan for Change is only just beginning, and we are working hard to improve access to services and bring down waits for treatments."

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