Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will increase (a) funding and (b) staffing levels for vascular care.

The Government has and will continue to prioritise investment into the National Health Service. Funding confirmed at the last Spending Review was on top of the historic long-term NHS settlement announced in 2018. Taken together with funding announced at the Autumn Statement 2022, this means that the NHS resource budget in England will increase in cash terms to £165.8 billion in 2024/25, up from £123.4 billion in 2019/20.

It is for local integrated care systems to determine the appropriate funding for vascular care for their populations. The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan commits to double the number of medical school training places. As these students graduate, we will work with stakeholders to ensure the commensurate growth in specialty training places is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.

The cardiology specialty has seen a higher-than-average increase in the numbers of doctors working in the NHS. There are over 1,400 (63%) more doctors working in the cardiology specialty, including over 700 (89%) more cardiology consultants, compared to 2010.