Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support NHS patients on the waiting list with Cardiovascular Disease.

We have prioritised cutting waiting lists and getting back to the standard that at least 92% of people should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to treatment, including those with cardiovascular disease. We recently published the Elective Reform Plan that sets out how we will do this, including optimising clinically led pathways, and shifting care from hospital to community. This will start with five initial specialities, including cardiology.

The Plan also outlines how there will be a reduction in the number of unnecessary cardiology diagnostics, freeing up capacity for those patients who need faster treatment. This will be done by increasing specialist input earlier in care pathways, developing standard pathways for common outpatient presentations, such as palpitation, and increasing timely access to cardiac diagnostic tests, including through straight to test.

Whilst we have already made progress, by delivering on our First Step commitment to provide two million extra appointments, we know there is more to do. We are also prioritising the experience of patients while they wait, as well as throughout their care journey. The Plan sets out how we will support patients with greater choice and control over their care, including options of whether they want to be seen in person or remotely, and whether they want routine follow up appointments, and a commitment to co-develop minimum standards of experience with patients, from which we can build and improve everyone’s experience of care.