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 reduce waiting lists for echocardiograms.

Cutting National Health Service waiting lists, including for echocardiography, is one of the Government’s top priorities. £2.3 billion was awarded at the Spending Review 2021 to transform diagnostic services over the next three years. Most of this will help increase the number of community diagnostic centres (CDCs) up to 160 by March 2025, expanding and protecting elective planned diagnostic services.

As of February 2024, there are 154 CDCs currently operational that have delivered over six million additional tests since July 2021, including large, standard and hub models. 69 of these CDCs are currently providing transthoracic echocardiograms, with 121 CDCs planning to do so by March 2025. NHS England is working to ensure all standard model CDCs include access to a range of cardiac and respiratory tests. As of December 2023, 7,750 echocardiography tests were carried out at CDCs.

NHS England is working to expand the echocardiography diagnostics workforce. Investment has been made in the training of cardiac and respiratory scientists, including significantly increasing the training supply of echocardiographers. An Echocardiography Training Programme has also been developed in collaboration with the British Society of Echocardiography. In the last two years, 130 individuals started on this programme, and it will continue to be used to increase numbers of accredited echocardiographers.

Additionally, NHS England has published guidance on the development of the Physiological Science Networks, including for echocardiography, to support the local coordination and transformation of physiological science services. This guidance provides integrated care boards with improvement approaches to address waiting times in physiological science services.