Cardiovascular Disease: Prevention

Sonia Kumar Excerpts

Thursday 13th February 2025 Westminster Hall

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this important debate. Cardiovascular disease is a phrase heard far too often in family circles, large communities and even on the national scale. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one in four deaths in the UK, and causes misery to many families. In Dudley alone, 10,000 people are living with heart conditions and circulatory diseases. Across the Black Country integrated care system, 11,000 people are waiting for cardiac treatment; nearly 5,000 have already waited longer than the NHS target. Those numbers translate into our everyday lives—in strokes, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes and heart conditions. Every delay means more emergencies and, tragically, more preventable deaths.

We must act now. Prevention and early intervention are critical to combating cardiovascular disease. We know that obesity, high blood pressure and smoking are risk factors. In Dudley, 30% of adults are living with obesity—higher than the national average—and 16% are smokers still. I welcome the Government’s initiatives to tackle smoking and encourage weight loss, and I believe that addressing and diagnosing cardiovascular conditions will help our population to live healthier lives.

It is not just our fantastic doctors who are experts in cardiovascular care but our allied health professionals. AHPs have a big role in diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases. As a physiotherapist by trade, I screen for cardiovascular conditions, which can masquerade as musculoskeletal conditions. I check blood pressure and carotid pulse, perform auscultation, check for neurological conditions, and conduct vascular exams and cranial nerve testing of the face. Physiotherapists are involved not only in assessments but in rehabilitation at places such as Action Heart in Dudley, which is inundated with referrals, and where patients get excellent care through cardiovascular rehabilitation and preventive programmes. My podiatry colleagues check for peripheral vascular disease and diabetic foot, and are a fountain of knowledge. My occupational therapist, and speech and language therapist colleagues do exceptional work with stroke patients. My radiology colleagues help with diagnosing these conditions. My paramedic colleagues manage these patients in acute care when they need it the most. An AHP myself, I could talk about AHPs all day but I want to present some recommendations for steps that the Government could take to make a big difference.

First, a multidisciplinary team is important. We should ensure that AHPs are at the centre when making policy decisions and announcements, not just for cardiovascular conditions but for all conditions; they are not just tackled by doctors. Secondly, we should ensure that diagnosis and check-ups are being done in general practice. Along with GPs, we should look at first contact practitioners, podiatrists, paramedics and physiotherapists, who also work in primary healthcare; and pharmacists, who can do the simple checks to check blood pressure early on. Thirdly, we should provide substantial and ringfenced funding for local health systems to scale up successful CVD risk management programmes. That is essential for us to move forward, and should include cardiovascular rehabilitation and prescription of gym memberships in the community, to ensure that those who need care have structured, long-term support with an emphasis on healthier lifestyles.

We owe it to our communities, to the NHS, and most of all to the thousands of people living with cardiovascular disease to change now. Let us not wait for more lives to be lost.