Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the data published by the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities entitled Excess Mortality in England, published on 12 May 2023, if he will commission an investigation into the reasons for trends in the level of (a) unexpected deaths from cardiovascular causes and (b) extra deaths in people under the age of 64 in last 12 months.

The Department has no plans to commission an investigation into the excess deaths in England in the last 12 months but will continue to monitor and report on levels of excess deaths. A combination of factors has contributed to an increase in the number of deaths, including high flu prevalence, the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 and health conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

On 24 January 2023, the Government announced that it will publish a Major Conditions Strategy and an interim report will be published in the summer. The strategy will set out a strong and coherent policy agenda that sets out a shift to integrated, whole-person care. The strategy will tackle conditions that contribute most to morbidity and mortality across the population in England including, cancers, cardiovascular disease, including stroke and diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, dementia, mental ill health and musculoskeletal conditions. Interventions set out in the strategy will aim to alleviate pressure on the health system, as well as support the Government’s objective to increase healthy life expectancy and reduce ill-health related labour market inactivity.