Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of the findings of the British Heart Foundation in its analysis entitled, Excess deaths involving CVD in England since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic: an analysis and explainer, published in June 2023.

Between March 2020 and May 2023 cardiovascular disease was a significant contributor to excess deaths. That is why we are going further to empower and support people to manage their heart health risks through the development of a digital NHS Health Check, and have appointed Professor Deanfield to lead work to develop an ambitious approach to personalised prevention. We will consider the implications of the British Heart Foundation’s findings for policy through the development of the Government’s forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.