Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the British Heart Foundation’s modelling which predicts that the number of people waiting for heart care and diagnosis could peak at around 550,385 in January 2024 unless the NHS in England receives long-term investment to clear the growing backlog.

No formal assessment has been made. However, the NHS Long Term Plan commits to improve the care and outcomes for those patients with cardiovascular disease. This includes enhanced diagnostic support in the community, better personalised planning and increasing access to cardiac rehabilitation.

The Department is providing an additional £1 billion this year, with the existing £1 billion Elective Recovery Fund, to tackle the backlog. We also plan to spend more than £8 billion in the following three years from 2022 to 2025. This could deliver the equivalent of approximately nine million more checks, scans and procedures, reducing waiting lists for cardiac services the equivalent of 30% more elective activity by 2024-25.