Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the report by NHS England entitled Improving the blood culture pathway, published on 29 June 2022, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the implementation of the recommendations of that report in NHS hospitals.

The Improving the blood culture pathway report was published in June 2022, and updated in March 2023. NHS England has been engaging with partner organisations, including integrated care boards, National Health Service regions, patients, industry, academia, regulators, and charities, to drive blood culture improvement and deliver the ambitions within the report, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/B0686-improving-the-blood-culture-pathway-executive-summary-v1-1.pdf.pdf

A national audit has been instigated to assess current practice against guidelines for best practice. An analysis of data from the audit is underway, and will inform an assessment of the implementation of the recommendations in the report. The Department will continue to work with NHS England to review what further action needs to be taken.