Hundreds of thousands of people living with heart disease and other cardiac conditions are missing out on support, according to a new report. 

Charity Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland (CHSS) is calling for the Scottish Government to prioritise access to rehabilitation services and for improved referrals from the NHS to third sector partners who provide essential services.

A survey of nearly 600 people living with heart conditions found that only 44% had accessed rehabilitation and 28% were not referred to NHS rehab at all, while 59% were struggling with physical activity.

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Exercise is linked with lower risk of developing heart disease, but for those who are mostly inactive, even small increases in exercise can make a significant difference to heart health in people living with heart disease.

Around 300,000 people in Scotland are living with coronary heart disease (CHD), which remains the country's biggest single cause of death. 

An additional 46,000 are living with heart failure, almost 1 in 3 Scots have high blood pressure, and an estimated 50,000 are living with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. 

The findings of the report come at a time when there has been an uptick in the death rate from coronary heart disease, reversing years of decline. 

Jane-Claire Judson, chief executive of CHSS - which delivers physical activity programmes - noted that previous research has found that the patients who used its service "rate their health and wellbeing higher than those who don’t".

She added: “We want everyone with a heart condition to be able to stay physically active in a way that is accessible to them.

"We need the Scottish Government and the NHS to improve links between the third sector and health and social care services so more GPs and NHS staff can directly refer people to the services we know work."

Jane-Claire Judson said the charity wants to help patients stay physically active (Image: CHSS)

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We want all heart disease patients to be able to enjoy the best quality of life and we agree on the importance of accessing rehabilitation and other services.

"Our Once for Scotland approach to rehabilitation and recovery sets out how rehabilitation should be delivered and we expect that boards will work collaboratively with a range of partners, including the third sector to deliver this.”

Margo Gibson, 61, goes twice a week to Killie Heartmates, a CHSS-affiliated peer support group for physical fitness in her hometown of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. 

The grandmother and married mother-of-two turned to the group after becoming too anxious to even go for a short walk following her third major heart surgery.

Today, Mrs Gibson says she feels much more confident after completing a cardiac rehabilitation course.

She said: “Going to the Heartmates has given me a bit of confidence again. Everything changed after the operation, and I’m still adjusting to the new me. I had severe anxiety after the operation.

“Recovery is tough. I’d put on weight, and I needed to do something, but I was terrified even to go for a walk.”

Mrs Gibson was five before doctors realised something was seriously wrong with her heart.

She and her older sister were in hospital to have their tonsils removed when tests showed her heart was failing. 

She was diagnosed with aortic coarctation, a condition where the aorta - the body's major blood vessel - is too narrow and the heart is forced to work harder to pump blood through.

Thousands of people a year in Scotland undergo some form of heart surgeryThousands of people a year in Scotland undergo some form of heart surgery (Image: Getty) She underwent surgery as a child to remove the narrow part of the aorta, spending four months in hospital recovering.  

After marrying, she was advised by doctors not to risk having more than two children, but never suspected her heart condition would eventually become life-threatening.

At 43, she was diagnosed with breast cancer but was given the all-clear following surgery and chemotherapy. 

In late 2019, Mrs Gibson began to feel constantly fatigued.

Her GP sent her to hospital where doctors immediately put her on medication and referred her to cardiac specialists.

In 2020, she had a stent put into her heart. 

She said: “I still felt tired and breathless, but knowing it was my heart rather than something else made me less worried.

"No one told me how serious my condition was or how much I was at risk of collapsing at any time. 

“I was a childminder, looking after up to six children at a time, and worked two days a week at a local nursery.

"I was always on the go, but I was working myself into the ground.” 

In April last year, doctors told Mrs Gibson she had stenosis of the aorta - an abnormal narrowing - which was causing her heart to work overtime.

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By chance, she ended up featuring in a Channel 5 documentary filmed at the Golden Jubilee hospital where Mrs Gibson underwent open heart surgery in 2023 to replace the damaged heart valve.

The resulting footage appeared in the documentary series The Hospital: Life on the Line. 

Mrs Gibson says the CHSS classes have become a "lifeline" for her recovery. 

She said: "I love going because these people all know what I’m going through, and they all want to help.

"It’s so lovely to feel part of something.  “I’d say to anyone who doesn’t go to a class like this that they are missing out.

"Recovery isn’t a bed of roses, but you don’t have to face it alone.”