Figures show large rise in heart failure in Horsham and Mid Sussex areas

Heart failure has become a much more common condition for patients in the Horsham and Mid Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group, according to new figures from Public Health England.

There were 1,734 people living with the condition in 2016-17, the most recent period for which data has been released. It means heart failure affected 728 in every 100,000 patients on doctors’ books.

It represents a 15.7% increase on the rate for patients in the Horsham And Mid Sussex CCG in 2009-10, when data was first recorded.

Heart failure is a condition where the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly. It is most commonly caused by a heart attack.

It is the only major cardiovascular disease - meaning those relating to the heart and blood vessels - which is becoming more common.

The condition costs the NHS over £2 billion a year.

Ashleigh Doggett, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Heart failure is a cruel and debilitating illness affecting more than half a million people across the UK.

“In the last ten years, more people have been diagnosed with the condition, with sufferers in severe cases often having poorer survival rates than many cancers.