Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the potential role of community pharmacies in supporting earlier detection of heart valve disease in at-risk groups.

High blood pressure is a significant risk factor for developing heart valve disease. Early detection of high blood pressure in patients supports prevention of heart valve disease. That is why pharmacies in England can provide the NHS Hypertension Case-Finding Service (HCFS), under which eligible patients can have their blood pressure checked for free in a community pharmacy. The HCFS aims to identify patients with high blood pressure so that they can be referred to their general practice for treatment.

As set out in the 10-Year Health Plan, to accelerate progress on the ambition to reduce premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade, we will publish a new Cardiovascular Disease Modern Service Framework in spring.

The framework will prioritise ambitious, evidence-led, and clinically informed approaches to prevention, treatment, and care, and as part of its development we are engaging widely to identify and consider the role of community pharmacies across the cardiovascular disease pathway.