Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of funding levels for research into the (a) detection and (b) treatment of heart valve disease.

The Department funds research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). The NIHR continues to welcome high quality applications for research into any aspect of human health and care, including the detection and treatment of heart valve disease.

The NIHR invested a total award value of £3.4 million of funding for six research studies that focus on heart valve disease, active in the five years from April 2019 to March 2024, directly through its research programmes.

The NIHR also works closely with other Government funders, including UK Research and Innovation, which is funded by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and includes the Medical Research Council, to fund research into a range of conditions, including heart valve disease, to improve detection and treatments and prevent poor health outcomes for patients.