Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the availability of automated external defibrillators in rural areas.

The treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease is a priority for the Government. We want people to have the best chance of survival from cardiac arrest, and rapid intervention is central to improving outcomes. This is why the Government increased the number of publicly accessible automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

The Government is committed to improving access to AEDs in public spaces, and reducing inequalities in access to these life saving devices. We made a further £500,000 available from August 2024 to fulfil existing applications to the Department’s Community AED Fund. The criteria specified for the original grant continues to apply and will go to applications for AEDs in areas where there is the greatest need, including in areas of high footfall, hot spots for cardiac arrest, and areas that already have low access to AEDs, which could include rural areas.