Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase the availability of heart valve surgery for (a) women and (b) ethnic minorities.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England continues to work with its partners in raising awareness of aortic stenosis, with a particular focus on women. NHS England is also working to increase access to cardiac surgery. The breathlessness pathway, launched in April 2023, encourages general practitioners to examine all patients for the signs of valvular heart disease. Heart valve disease is a focus for cardiac networks, with pathways in in place to improve early detection of valve disease in the community.

In November 2023, a dedicated Heart Valve Disease (HVD) Expert Advisory Group was convened to provide NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme with leadership, advice, quality assurance, expert review, and endorsement of the projects and deliverables that comprise the HVD workstream, with a focus on improving the speed and equity of access to high quality treatment for heart valve patients.

To improve the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease across England, including aortic stenosis, £2.3 billion has been committed to open 160 community diagnostic centres by March 2025. This will increase the volume of diagnostic activity and further reduce patient waiting times. The centres have delivered over 5 million additional tests since July 2021, including those that detect cardiovascular disease.

In addition, the National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement, from prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and through to end-of-life care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase awareness of the symptoms of heart valve disease in women.

Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS England continues to work with its partners in raising awareness of aortic stenosis, with a particular focus on women. NHS England is also working to increase access to cardiac surgery. The breathlessness pathway, launched in April 2023, encourages general practitioners to examine all patients for the signs of valvular heart disease. Heart valve disease is a focus for cardiac networks, with pathways in in place to improve early detection of valve disease in the community.

In November 2023, a dedicated Heart Valve Disease (HVD) Expert Advisory Group was convened to provide NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme with leadership, advice, quality assurance, expert review, and endorsement of the projects and deliverables that comprise the HVD workstream, with a focus on improving the speed and equity of access to high quality treatment for heart valve patients.

To improve the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease across England, including aortic stenosis, £2.3 billion has been committed to open 160 community diagnostic centres by March 2025. This will increase the volume of diagnostic activity and further reduce patient waiting times. The centres have delivered over 5 million additional tests since July 2021, including those that detect cardiovascular disease.

In addition, the National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement, from prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and through to end-of-life care.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including material on (a) diagnosing and (b) detecting cardiovascular diseases in women's health hubs.

Answered by Maria Caulfield - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade) (Minister for Women)

No specific assessment has been made. We are investing £25 million in women’s health hubs, so that women can get better access to care for menstrual problems, contraception, menopause, and more. Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning services that meet the needs of their local population, and will determine the exact services that their women’s health hub will provide, so long as they deliver the core services set out in the Women’s Health Hubs: Core Specification, which is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/womens-health-hubs-information-and-guidance/womens-health-hubs-core-specification

Future expansion of women’s health hubs will reflect the need to meet women’s health needs holistically. This could also include developing care pathways into wider health and public services, including those for cardiovascular disease, however hubs should not create an additional step in the patient journey, or delay referral for specialist or urgent care where required.