Epidemiology, Outcomes, and Health Economic Implications of Valvular Heart Disease in the UK

One in five people over 75 in the UK has a heart valve that has narrowed or become leaky, but most of them do not know it. Valvular heart disease (VHD) raises the risk of death and hospitalisation, yet the NHS has no clear picture of how these patients are diagnosed, treated, or how their care affects long-term outcomes and costs. This project will link GP records, hospital data, and death registrations to map the full journey of VHD patients across the UK. The researchers will identify who is most affected, what other conditions they have, which treatments they receive, and how different patient groups fare in terms of surgery, survival, and hospital stays. If successful, the work will give NHS policymakers and clinicians the evidence they need to design cost-effective care pathways. That could mean earlier diagnosis, better targeting of treatments such as valve repair or replacement, and fewer preventable hospitalisations. The health economic modelling may also reveal which strategies offer the best value for a publicly funded system. The research is applied and directly relevant to NHS practice—it does not aim to uncover fundamental biological mechanisms, but to improve how an underdiagnosed condition is managed at scale.