Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for heart procedures.

The ‘Delivery Plan for Tackling the COVID-19 Backlog of Elective Care’ outlines how the National Health Service will bring down waiting times across all elective services. The plan does not detail approaches for each specialty but commits to eradicate all waits of longer than a year for elective care by March 2025, except for in the case of patient choice.

To support this plan and tackle waiting lists, including those for heart procedures, the Government has committed more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to drive up and protect elective activity.

The Department has also been supporting local areas to recover delivery of the NHS Health Check, which aims to prevent heart attacks and strokes, and detect disease earlier. It assesses the top risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and helps people to reduce their risk by supporting them to make healthier choices and access clinical care. The latest data shows that by April 2023 delivery activity had returned to pre-pandemic levels. The Department is also taking forward a programme of work to increase access to the programme, investing nearly £17 million in the development of an innovative digital NHS Health Check.