Heart patients in the United Kingdom had considerably better access to emergency and life enhancing cardiac procedures in 2006 than in 2000, the first systematic mapping study has found. But to meet the predicted needs for cardiac services in 2020, some regions need to increase the number of procedures they perform substantially; some, such as implanting defibrillator devices, need to expand by up to 13% a year.

Results of the study, which was commissioned by the British Cardiovascular Society, the British Heart Foundation, and the Cardio and Vascular Coalition, show that the provision of …