Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps is his department taking to raise awareness of the warning signs of sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.

Under the UK Rare Diseases Framework, the Government is working to improve awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professionals, including rare conditions that lead to sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).

NHS England has a published the national service specification Cardiology: Inherited Cardiac Conditions (All Ages), which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/cardiology-inherited-cardiac-conditions-all-ages/

This outlines the service model and mandatory guidelines for commissioned providers in England to support the diagnosis and treatment of patients or families affected by inherited cardiac conditions or sudden cardiac death. NHS England is currently reviewing this service specification and is working with stakeholders as part of this review including NHS clinical experts and the British Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions Society. The NHS England Genomics Education Programme has also developed a range of educational resources for healthcare professionals.

This includes a Knowledge Hub page on sudden arrhythmic death syndrome, including information on presentation, diagnosis, management, and links for clinicians to further resources. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.genomicseducation.hee.nhs.uk/genotes/knowledge-hub/sudden-arrhythmic-death-syndrome/