THE number of people in the north west being admitted to hospital due to heart failure has risen by almost half in the last five years - according to the British Heart Foundation.

Hospital admissions due to heart failure in the north west have risen from 8,600 in 2013/14 to 12,700 in 2018/19.

In England as a whole admissions have risen by 33 per cent across the same period, from 65,025 in 2013/14 to 86,474 in 2018/19.

This is three times as fast as all other hospital admissions, which have risen by 11 per cent in the same period.

The number of people on their GP’s heart failure register in the north west has risen by 24,313 in the last five years, from 64,242 in 2013/14 to 89,032 – a 39 per cent rise.

Professor Sir Nilesh Samani, medical director at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Heart failure poses a growing and increasingly complex challenge, not only for people living with the condition, but for those who care for them too.

"It’s concerning to see yet another increase in hospital admissions – an indication that how we diagnose, treat and care for these patients needs more attention."

Several factors could be contributing to the rise in people living with heart failure, including an ageing and growing population, growing numbers of heart attack survivors and stubbornly high rates of people living with heart failure risk factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes.

The charity estimated there are around 920,000 people living with heart failure in the UK.