Alarming figures show that one in 25 people who die of a heart attack in north east England could have survived if they were in London.
A study by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has lifted the lid on a healthcare “postcode lottery” because of varying abilities of clinicians.
While the capital had the best survival rates, the figures were far bleaker in the north east and east of England.
The IFS said that among 100 otherwise identical patients, around six in these areas would have survived if they had access to the same healthcare as London.
After analysing 13 years of data up to 2018, it also said survival rates in urban areas were higher than in rural communities.
It means that if cardiologist standards were the same across England, more than 80 people in each region would survive each year.
George Stoye, associate director at the IFS, said: “A key tenet of the NHS is to provide equal access to care for those with equal needs.
“However, this research shows that patients living in different parts of the country do not have access to the same quality of care.”
He added: “Patients have little choice over who treats them in an emergency situation, and the care quality they receive will vary according to the time and the place in which they seek care.”
Both NHS England and the Department of Health declined to comment today.
