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 help tackle the backlog of cardiovascular care in the NHS.

The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to a number of key ambitions to improve care and outcomes for individuals with cardiovascular disease including enhanced diagnostic support in the community, better personalised planning and increasing access to cardiac rehabilitation. These ambitions will support the delivery of the aim to help prevent 150,000 heart attacks, strokes, and dementia cases by 2029.

To support elective recovery, the Government plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cardiovascular disease. Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. In addition, the National Health Service will increase capacity, seeking alternative capacity in other trusts or the independent sector and increasing activity through dedicated and protected surgical hubs.