Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve treatment has on (a) avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, (b) deaths on waiting lists and (c) other patient outcomes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve disease (HVD) treatment on avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, deaths on waiting lists, or other patient outcomes.
Cutting waiting times, including for cardiology services, is a key priority for the Government. The cardiology waiting list decreased from 412,164 in September 2024 to 393,400 in September 2025, although this data includes estimates for missing data.
Cardiology is a priority specialty for significant transformation, as outlined in the Elective Reform Plan. The ambition is, where possible and clinically appropriate, to increase specialist care closer to home, and outside of hospitals so that hospital capacity is freed up, enabling patients' timely access to care, as well as improving outcomes.
NHS England has committed to optimising pathways of care for patients with HVD, including earlier detection and improved treatment pathways. To achieve this, the NHS England Cardiac Programme has established an expert advisory group and carried out work including, in 2024/25, providing targeted funding for pathway improvement projects. These included projects that focussed on improving referral processes and local diagnostic pathway provision, as well as fast-tracking patients on valve disease pathways.
To accelerate progress towards the Government’s 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 2026.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England has made an estimate of the number and proportion of women diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis who receive timely treatment compared to men.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The following table shows the count of elective hospital admissions where there was a primary diagnosis of 'aortic stenosis', by patient gender, as well as the median duration from the receipt of referral by the hospital to admission for 2022/23 to 2024/25:
Year | Gender | Total admissions | Number of admissions with a valid waiting time | Median time to admission (days) |
2022/23 | Male | 6,072 | 5,193 | 48 |
2022/23 | Female | 3,600 | 3,073 | 44 |
2023/24 | Male | 6,126 | 5,364 | 47 |
2023/24 | Female | 3,695 | 3,259 | 46 |
2024/25 | Male | 6,615 | 5,822 | 43 |
2024/25 | Female | 4,105 | 3,623 | 42 |
Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS England.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure the switch from analogue to digital health services is inclusive of people whose first language is British Sign Language.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government has set out a commitment to make the NHS App British Sign Language accessible in the 10-Year Health Plan, which covers the period to 2035.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure greater provision of British Sign Language across the NHS.
Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to support patients in the community.
All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which details the approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including people using BSL.
On 30 June 2025, a revised AIS was published. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and engagement, and a review of the current e-learning modules on the AIS. The intention is to ensure that staff and organisations in the NHS are aware of the AIS and the importance of meeting the information and communication needs of disabled people using these services.
I also recently attended and spoke at a parliamentary event highlighting the BSL Advisory Board health and social care report and we will be considering its findings.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure councils implement the requirements of the Care Act 2014 on Individual Service Funds.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Under the Care Act 2014, everyone whose needs are met by the local authority (LA) must receive a personal budget as part of the care and support plan. The budget sets out how much of the cost of care will be met by the LA and how much will be met by the adult.
Individual Service Funds (ISFs) are one of the ways in which the personal budget can be deployed. It allows for a third-party provider to hold and manage the budget on behalf of the individual.
Guidance on ISFs is set out in the Care and Support Statutory (CASS) Guidance, issued under the Care Act 2014. The CASS guidance sets out that LAs should offer ISFs where possible and provide clear information on how they work. Where an ISF arrangement is not available locally, the LA should explore arrangements to develop this offer and should be receptive to requests to create arrangements with specified providers.
In addition, and supported by the Department, Think Local Act Personal has produced guidance for LAs on ISFs, which can be found on their website, at the following link:
The Care Quality Commission is assessing how well LAs in England are delivering adult social care by looking at how they are performing against their duties under Part 1 of the Care Act 2014. The assessments identify LAs strengths and areas for improvement, facilitating the sharing of good practice and helping us to target support where it is most needed.
The Department has not had discussions with LAs specifically on the effectiveness of the implementation of ISFs under the Care Act 2014.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure earlier (a) detection and (b) treatment of heart valve disease is prioritised within NHS long-term planning.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
In line with the goals of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has already undertaken measures to improve the early detection of heart valve disease (HVD). These include:
In 2025, NHS England’s Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to support evidence-based, efficient, and consistent care across primary and secondary settings, including for aortic stenosis for patients with severe symptomatic heart valve disease.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of delayed access to specialist heart valve treatment on (a) avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, (b) deaths on the waiting lists, and (c) other patient outcomes.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department has not made any specific assessment of the impact of delayed heart valve treatment on avoidable unscheduled hospitalisations, deaths on the waiting lists, and other patient outcomes.
It is unacceptable that so many patients have been let down for too long whilst they wait for the care they need. We have wasted no time in getting to work cutting National Health Service waiting lists and ensuring people have the best possible experience during their care. We promised change, and we’ve delivered early with a reduction in the list of over 206,000 since the Government came into office. Specifically, the waiting list for cardiology services has reduced by over 25,000 in that time.
Between July 2024 and June 2025, we delivered 5.2 million additional appointments compared to the previous year, more than double our pledge of two million. This marks a vital first step to delivering on the commitment that 92% of patients will wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures in the NHS 10 Year Plan will support earlier diagnosis of heart valve disease in primary and community care settings.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan sets out the three big shifts the National Health Service needs to be fit for the future: from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention. All three shifts are relevant to improving outcomes for those experiencing heart valve disease.
More tests and scans delivered in the community, better joint working between services, and greater use of apps and wearable technology will all help people manage their conditions closer to home and help to reduce hospital admissions.
In line with the goals of the 10-Year Health Plan, NHS England has already undertaken measures to improve earlier detection of heart valve disease (HVD). It is commissioning the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of HVD. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate.
NHS England is also establishing an Expert Advisory Group on HVD which brings together experts and key stakeholders from across the United Kingdom, with the aim of ensuring excellence in care whilst exploring ways to improve heart valve disease management nationwide. Additionally, NHS England is undertaking a review of health inequalities for all specialised cardiac services which will include aortic stenosis, a type of HVD. This will specifically consider the presentation of males versus females with aortic stenosis where research shows that women are likely to present with symptoms at an older age. It is also working with providers to implement a single point of access pathway for severe aortic stenosis.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps NHS England is taking to raise awareness of (a) heart valve disease and (b) its symptoms among the (i) population and (ii) healthcare professionals.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Continuous improvements have been made in the heart valve disease (HVD) pathway for service users, but there remains unwarranted variation and inequalities in terms of care for patients with HVD for example in access to surgery for aortic stenosis, a form of HVD; and late presentation which increases the risk of surgery and limits recovery after surgery.
NHS England produced an e-learning for healthcare on heart failure and heart valve disease in early 2023. This package of education supports clinicians across primary care and community settings to better recognise the symptoms, diagnose, manage, and support patients with heart failure and heart valve disease, including palliative and end of life care. In doing so, clinicians are supported to identify and manage patients in primary care where appropriate, to reduce avoidable admissions to hospital.
In 2024 NHS England commissioned the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society to develop a new referral form to support the investigation of heart valve disease. The referral form is to guide primary healthcare teams to confidently refer patients with suspected, or known, valve disease for specialist assessment and/or echocardiography, where appropriate. The resource includes:
- a comprehensive checklist to support patient referral for further assessment;
- important signs and symptoms; and
- referral pathways for suspected heart valve disease.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that regions where (a) cancer outcomes are poorer and (b) research infrastructure is historically underfunded receive a fair share of national cancer research investment and clinical trial opportunities.
Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department is committed to funding health and care research via the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) across England, and to ensuring that the research we support is inclusive and representative of the populations we serve. We know that cancer survival rates are generally lower in people living in more deprived areas.
In 2024, the NIHR made equity, diversity, and inclusion a condition of funding for all domestic research awards. This means applicants must demonstrate how their research will contribute towards the NIHR’s mission to reduce health and care inequalities, with a focus on participant inclusion from diverse populations of the United Kingdom.
NIHR research infrastructure has national coverage across the whole of England. Our infrastructure schemes aim to build research capacity and capability across the country across all geographies and settings. In line with prior commitments, the Department has increased funding for research infrastructure schemes delivering cancer research outside the Greater South East, including Biomedical Research Centres, Clinical Research Facilities, and HealthTech Research Centres.
Through the NIHR Research Delivery Network (RDN), the NIHR supports 100% of National Health Service trusts in England to deliver research, operating across 12 regions throughout the country. From 2026/27, the RDN will adopt a new national funding model for NHS support costs and research delivery. This will be a consistent, nationally agreed funding distribution model across all regions of England and will reduce regional variations of health research delivery investment, and better enable clinical trial opportunities across all areas, including underserved areas and settings.
The NIHR also provides an online service called Be Part of Research which promotes participation in health and social care research by allowing users to search for relevant studies and register their interest. This makes it easier for people to find and take part in health and care research that is relevant to them.