Almost 5,000 lives a year could be saved if all victims of heart failure received high-quality specialist care, an NHS report says today.

The death rate could be reduced if all patients were seen by a cardiologist, treated on a specialist cardiac ward and given drugs that have been proven to lower the risk of dying from the condition, concludes the National Heart Failure Audit, published by the NHS Information Centre.

"This audit shows that patients admitted to hospital with heart failure have an unacceptably high death rate," said Dr Theresa McDonagh, the study's clinical lead and the Chair of the British Society for Heart Failure.

About 32% of such patients die within a year of being admitted to hospital. The mortality rate among those seen by a cardiologist or treated by specialist heart failure services is 23%. Similarly, while 12% of patients admitted to hospital with heart failure and put on a general medical ward die, the figure is 6% among those who end up on a cardiology ward.

The report reveals that fewer than half of eligible patients are prescribed ace inhibitors or beta-blockers, two sorts of medication that can dramatically reduce the chances of dying from heart failure.

"People are still needlessly dying because they do not have access to specialist cardiological care," said Dr Mike Knapton, a GP in Cambridge who is also associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation. "Treatment for heart failure should be given the same priority as heart attacks. But while there have been huge improvements in the management of heart attack patients, the same cannot be said for people with heart failure, where improvements have been too slow.

"Improving the management of heart failure will not only save lives but make best use of precious NHS resources by preventing costly hospital readmissions."

Professor Roger Boyle, national director for heart disease and stroke at the Department of Health, said the audit was "vital in exposing existing flaws in the system that need improvement" and useful to help hospitals to improve services and patients to decide where to be treated.

Jo Webber, deputy director of the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, said effective public health strategies were also needed to reduce the number of people developing heart disease in the first place.