Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing access to echocardiography in primary care to improve the investigation of patients with breathlessness.

People with heart failure will be supported by multi-disciplinary teams as part of Primary Care Networks and greater access to echocardiography within community diagnostic centres (CDCs). This aims to improve the investigation of those with breathlessness and the early detection of heart failure and heart valve disease. The National Health Service has launched over 80 CDCs to provide over two million diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging scans, echocardiography, echocardiograms, spirometry and phlebotomy.