A Royal Navy veteran who was forced to pay over ￡25,000 for heart surgery after NHS delays said he has been "let down by the system".

       Ex-weapons engineer Neil Wogan, 52, said he felt like a "ticking time bomb" after being diagnosed with heart valve disease, only to learn that he would have to wait up to four months for surgery.

       Mr Wogan, from Wigan, visited a GP after experiencing tight pressure in his chest in May 2023, but was told that he wouldn't be able to see a cardiologist until September.

       However, the symptoms became so painful that the 52-year-old was admitted to A&E in July, where he was hospitalised for nearly a week and received his diagnosis.

       The Police Community Support Officer was told that he urgently needed open heart surgery to replace his failing aortic valve with a mechanical one, but would be lucky to get an operation before Christmas because of long NHS waiting lists.

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       He decided to have the operation privately, using over ￡25,000 from his pension fund, and was treated just a few weeks later in mid-September.

       Mr Wogan said: "Before the surgery, I felt like a ticking time bomb, and that at any moment, my heart could fail. Every night I went to sleep thinking I might never wake up.

       "For nearly 30 years, I’ve served my country: in the Navy, for my local council, and for the police. I’ve helped a lot of people, so I honestly feel really let down by the system.

       "It wasn’t an easy decision to go private as I’ll now have to retire later than I’d planned. But I felt forced to, I was desperate.

       "I didn’t know when I’d get a date for my heart surgery, or if it would be cancelled when I did."

       Mr Wogan said he had been on sick leave for months before his hospitalisation and the uncertainty was "taking a huge mental and physical toll" on him and his family.

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       Figures show that the NHS waiting list for cardiovascular care in England is at a near-record high of over 420,000, with around 40% of those needing time-sensitive heart care waiting longer than the 18-month target period after referral.

       The British Heart Foundation (BHF) and over 40 other organisations have called on the UK Government to develop a National Cardiovascular Disease Plan to tackle the problem.

       Dr Charmaine Griffiths, Chief Executive of the BHF, said action was needed to "get the nation’s heart health back on track and save thousands of lives".

       She added: "There’s an unprecedented crisis in heart and stroke care. Neil’s story is a harsh and heartbreaking reminder that behind the huge waiting list numbers, far too many people are suffering physically and emotionally.”

       The BHF has argued that cutting deaths caused by heart disease could boost the UK’s economic growth by cutting an estimated ￡12 billion spent on cardiovascular healthcare each year.

       Cardiovascular disease is responsible for a quarter of all deaths in the UK, with heart failure cases expected to double by 2040.

       Health organisations have also called for better prevention of strokes and heart disease, timely treatment plans and supercharged research into cardiovascular conditions.