Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to improve the recording and classification of sudden cardiac deaths in people aged under 35.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is responsible for the processing, analysis, and publication of death records in England and Wales. Further information is available on the ONS website, at the following link:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/articles/deathcertificationreformenglandandwales/9september2024to30june2025provisionaldata

NHS England has a published a national service specification for inherited cardiac conditions (ICC) that covers patients who often present as young adults with previously undiagnosed cardiac disease or families requiring follow up due to a death from this cause. The specification states that specialist ICC services should follow recommendations for standards of care, best practice, care pathways, treatment algorithms, data collection, and audit.