NHS: Heart Valve Disease

Lord Patel Excerpts

Thursday 12th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am most grateful to my noble friend for his work in promoting the improvement of services for those with heart valve disease. I can say—it might be helpful—that we are driving down cardiology waiting lists. The number of people waiting over 52 weeks from referral to treatment was down 9% between the end of December 2025 and the end of January 2026. Yes, the modern service framework will accelerate this progress to reduce premature mortality and will set standards for the best evidence-based interventions.

[Lord Patel (CB)]

My Lords, management of people with heart valve disease is truly a low-hanging fruit in reducing deaths due to cardiovascular disease. Some 400 people a year die on waiting lists for transcatheter aortic valve implantation. It is simple for people who have breathlessness or suffer from decreased exercise tolerance or chest pain. Even I, within five minutes, could diagnose whether they were at risk of heart valve disease or not—line them up and I will tell you.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I am reassured that the noble Lord can assist within five minutes—we might consider engaging him. The serious point is that early diagnosis is important, and the modern service framework will build on the work that has already been done. I know that the noble Lord is aware of this, but just the use of a stethoscope is the way to make an early and initial diagnosis. We are upping our game here by bringing in AI-assisted stethoscopes, which will be a massive assistance for diagnosis.