Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing reporting requirements for providers and commissioners of heart failure services on (a) referrals for suspected heart failure, (b) urgent referrals for suspected heart failure, (c) specialist appointments held within six weeks of referral for suspected heart failure and (d) specialist appointments held within two weeks of urgent referral for suspected heart failure.

The Department has not made a formal assessment. The reporting requirements for National Health Service commissioners and providers are based on a balanced assessment, to collect timely and clinically valuable data. There are currently no plans to introduce new reporting requirements. When considering future changes to reporting requirements for commissioners and providers of heart failure services, NHS England and NHS Improvement will take account of the views of clinicians, patients and stakeholder organisations.

NHS England’s Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) includes data on heart failure collected in primary care and community care services. In April 2020, the QOF was updated to support earlier diagnosis and management. General practitioner surgeries are asked to collect data to show they have fulfilled their QOF requirements. This update also means that patients with heart failure can expect to have an annual review.