Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they will take to close the gap between the interval between diagnosis and care following a diagnosis of cardiomyopathies and the interval following a diagnosis of other cardiovascular conditions.

The NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national report for cardiology published in August 2021 made the case for delivering cardiac services via managed clinical networks to ensure care is organised around pathways rather than hospitals/sites. Recommendations made in the report are being implemented through GIRFT and NHS England’s Cardiac Transformation Programme. Cardiac networks have been established and the Cardiac Transformation Programme leads have regular reviews with all networks to monitor their progress

To improve diagnosis of cardiomyopathy, GIRFT and the Cardiac Transformation Programme have recommended an expansion of diagnostic capacity in echocardiography through the roll out of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs). Steps taken include rolling out up to 160 CDCs which will provide echocardiography services by March 2025. This will improve access to cardiac network pathways for onward referral for patients with suspected cardiomyopathy to an appropriate specialist clinic

NHS England is carrying out a comprehensive revision of the service specification for inherited cardiac conditions including cardiomyopathy, with completion expected before the end of 2023/24. Although not age specific, the revised specification will describe the standards of diagnosis, treatment and outcomes expected for patients and families with inherited cardiac conditions from recognised centres.