State's cardiac healthcare scores 'poorly', survey shows

IRELAND FALLS behind most western European states when it comes to heart healthcare, a new survey shows.

The Republic was ranked 16th of 29 European states in the Euro Consumer Heart Index, published yesterday by Health Consumer Powerhouse, a Swedish healthcare monitoring organisation.

The best cardiovascular care was found in Luxembourg, followed by France, Norway and Switzerland while Romania came bottom of the list for its heart care services. It was followed by Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland.

The league analysed national cardiovascular healthcare systems in five categories: information, consumer rights and choice, access, prevention, and procedures and outcomes.

Ireland scored well on same-day access to doctors for chest pain but poorly on issues such as compulsory exercise in schools, fruit and vegetable intake, and obesity.

Dr Arne Björnberg, research director for the heart index said that Ireland scored "poorly overall" in preventing heart disease, despite its anti-smoking measures.

"The other elements of effective prevention, such as combating obesity, reducing the heavy drinking culture and improving diet problems need to be addressed to counter Ireland's rather poor results on heart disease outcomes," he said.

Johan Hjertqvist, president of the Health Consumer Powerhouse, said Ireland could improve its prevention activities by introducing national screening for heart disease and by taking measures to control blood pressure.

"Higher levels of exercise in Irish schools would also be an excellent long-term investment towards cardiac health in the future," he said.

The Irish Heart Foundation said the results were disappointing, but not surprising.

Chief executive Michael O'Shea said the number of consultants in Ireland was the lowest in Europe yet cardiovascular disease continued to kill more Irish people than any other cause of death.

"The Government needs to prioritise cardiovascular disease for additional investment immediately," he said.

The survey findings come a day after the European Commission proposed that patients in the EU should be able to receive treatment in any EU state, without authorisation from doctors or health insurers.

Patients would have to pay for treatment upfront but would be refunded by their national health systems. Coincidentally, Luxembourg, which tops the table for cardiac care, is the only European country which regularly allows patients to cross borders for care.

The commission's proposal will now be examined by the European Parliament, and individual states, but it will be at least a year before it becomes law.

The Government has already expressed concern at the financial implications of citizens travelling abroad for treatment without prior approval.

 Cardiovascular care: Europe's Top 10

1 Luxembourg

2 France

3 Norway

4 Switzerland

5 Austria

6 The Netherlands

7 Sweden

8 Slovenia

9 United Kingdom

10 Finland