Heart Diseases
(asked on 5th June 2025) - View Source
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 follow up care for survivors of sudden cardiac arrest (a) nationally and (b) regionally.
The NHS Long Term Plan committed to improving community first response and building defibrillator networks to help save 4,000 lives by 2028. This is being supported with education for the general public, including young people of school age, about how to recognise and respond to out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.
NHS England is also working with partners such as the British Heart Foundation to harness new technology and to ensure the public and emergency services are able to rapidly locate this life saving equipment in an emergency.
Patients who survive cardiac arrest and their families are supported through referral to local National Health Services, and this will include rehabilitation, such as cardiac and neurological rehabilitation, and mental health services for psychological support.
There are different pathways for cardiac arrest survivors, depending on the severity of the damage caused by the cardiac arrest. For people being discharged from secondary care and those with ischemic heart disease, also known as myocardial infarction, cardiac rehabilitation services are available in every region.
In December 2024, to support local systems to commission high quality cardiac rehabilitation, NHS England published Commissioning standards for cardiac rehabilitation, which is available at the following link:
https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/commissioning-standards-for-cardiovascular-rehabilitation/
These standards of care complement the British Association of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation’s Standards and Core Components document, published in 2023, to support the delivery of high-quality care and the adherence to evidenced-based practice. This document is available at the following link: