CHE Policy & Research Briefing April 2018
- This report examines angioplasty, a common heart revascularization procedure performed more than 20,000 times a year in England.
- In the early 2000s, when waiting times were long, patients in the most income deprived fifth of neighbourhoods waited about 50% longer for non-emergency angioplasty than those in the least income deprived fifth. This gap occurred within hospitals, and was not primarily due to richer patients choosing to travel further to hospitals with shorter waiting times.
- The gap fell to 10% by 2008 when waiting times were shortest, but started rising thereafter to around 20% by 2015 as waiting times started to grow again.
