The London Daily News

The risk of developing heart disease in London's South Asian population is double that of white people, new research has revealed.

Statistics released by the British Heart Foundation suggest that many South Asian's could be missing out on life saving care.

The Ethnic Differences in Cardiovascular Disease 2010 publication compiled by the BHF Health Promotion Research Group at the University of Oxford shows that heart disease rates are about 50% higher in South Asians than in white people.

"Barriers"

Qaim Zaidi, Ethnic Strategy Co-coordinator at the BHF said:

"South Asians may face a number of barriers when trying to access vital treatments which could prolong their lives. They could encounter language difficulties, services may not be culturally appropriate or they may not be aware of the services that are available to them.

All new government policies and services should be subject to impact assessments requiring policymakers and service providers to take health inequalities into account. We also need full ethnicity coding of health data to understand the experiences of different patients.

Inequality of access and treatment is a major hurdle we need to overcome to ensure every patient is given the care and treatment they deserve regardless of race, colour or class."

15% of hospital admissions do not have their ethnicity recorded - since 2001 the NHS has been required to collect this data.