More than 11,000 heart attack patients would not have died if British care was as good as in Sweden, study claims -- By Daily Mail Reporter

Study compared death rates in the two countries from 2004 to 2010

A third more British patients died than in Sweden within a month of attack

Research by University College London said Brits received inferior care

Professor Harry Hemingway: 'Our findings are a cause for concern'

More than 11,000 deaths of heart attack patients could have been avoided if British care was as good as Sweden's, a study has claimed.

A third more Britons than Swedes died within a month of having a heart attack, according to the research on half a million patients.

Scientists from University College London examined death rates in the two countries between 2004 and 2010.

They said a key reason for the striking difference between the two was that British patients are not receiving the best possible treatment.

Professor Harry Hemingway, from University College London, said: 'Our findings are a cause for concern.

'The uptake and use of new technologies and effective treatments recommended in guidelines has been far quicker in Sweden. This has contributed to large differences in the management and outcomes of patients.'

In total, the team analysed records relating to 391,077 patients from 242 hospitals in the UK and 119,786 from 86 hospitals in Sweden.

They found that 30 days after a heart attack, 10.5 per cent of patients discharged from hospital were dead in the UK compared with 7.6 per cent in Sweden.

At the start of the study the difference was even more stark, with almost 50 per cent more patients dying in the UK than in Sweden. But by 2010, the gap had narrowed to 20 per cent.

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