Bias & Biology Briefing

Women are dying needlessly from heart attacks in the UK, or not making as good a recovery as they could, because they don't receive the same care and treatment as men.

We have brought together evidence in a new briefing, 'Bias and Biology', which reveals the scale of the inequality.

The briefing shows that: 

- women having a heart attack delay seeking medical help longer than men because they don't recognise the symptoms

- a woman is 50% more likely than a man to receive the wrong initial diagnosis for a heart attack 

- women are less likely than men to receive a number of potentially life saving treatments in a timely way 

- following a heart attack women are less likely to be prescribed medications to help prevent a second heart attack. 

Visit the BHF website to download the full briefing, or a summary version.