Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to tackle disparities in access to medical treatment for heart valve disease.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are committed to focusing on the six major groups, which includes cardiovascular disease. As part of the policy development process, the Major Conditions Strategy will consider the full range of health disparities that may be experienced by different groups, including ethnic and gender disparities.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to include additional material on heart valve disease in the Major Conditions Strategy.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
In the development of the Major Conditions Strategy, we are committed to focusing on the six major groups of conditions, which includes cardiovascular disease. Aligning work across several groups of conditions allows us to focus on where there are similarities in approach to ensure care is better centred around the patient, health and care resources are used most effectively, and that there is effective integration, both within and between treatment pathways.
This strategy does not seek to describe everything that is being done or could be done to meet the challenges of specific diseases within the major conditions. Instead, we are focusing on developing a strategic approach to inform the wide range of decisions health and care organisations make when determining how best to care for the people they serve.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of the number of heart valve disease patients treated in non-elective settings in the last 12 months; and whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of this treatment on (a) hospital capacity and (b) patient's quality of life.
Answered by Andrew Stephenson - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
NHS England’s Hospital Episode Statistics tell us that there were 11,581 non-elective hospital admissions for heart valve disease in 2022/23. There has been no specific assessment made of the potential impact of this treatment on hospital capacity or on patients quality of life. The National Health Service will, at all times, aim to provide patients with the care which responds to their needs. This includes patients who are admitted to hospital through non-elective routes for heart valve disease.
The NHS is also taking action to identify cardiovascular disease before a patient is admitted to hospital. The NHS has rolled out free blood pressure checks to people over the age of 40 in community pharmacies to detect thousands more people living with hypertension earlier. This means more people can access simple, low-cost treatments that will reduce their risk of death or serious illness from cardiovascular disease. Furthermore, 108 community diagnostic centres have opened that have delivered more than 3.9 million tests, including those that detect cardiovascular disease.
NHS England has included hypertension case-finding, optimal management, and lipid optimal management as one of its five clinical areas of focus requiring accelerated improvement within the Core20PLUS5 approach. The Core20PLUS5 informs action to reduce healthcare inequalities at both national and system level.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase (a) awareness among and (b) training for primary healthcare professionals of the different clinical indicators presented by (i) women and (ii) men with aortic stenosis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not provide information on Aortic Stenosis. Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients on ways to reduce their risk of heart disease including Aortic Stenosis, including reference to the NHS website.
NHS England have considered research that has evidenced that women tend to present symptoms of Aortic Stenosis at an older age than men. Both men and women exhibit the same symptoms of aortic stenosis, with dizziness and breathlessness more common in women.
NHS England have recently published an adult breathlessness pathway tool for clinicians working in Primary Care. This will help support diagnosis of chronic breathlessness which is a more common symptom of Aortic Stenosis in women.
NHS England have developed and published a new heart failure and heart valve disease e-learning for healthcare (e-LfH) course for primary care and community and enable health care professionals to better recognise the symptoms of Aortic Stenosis in both men and women, and to diagnose, manage, and support heart failure and heart valve disease patient.
Asked by: Gill Furniss (Labour - Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what action his Department is taking to improve the (a) information on and (b) resources for aortic stenosis provided to (i) women and (ii) primary healthcare professionals.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Department does not provide information on Aortic Stenosis. Local services in the National Health Service are responsible for providing information to patients on ways to reduce their risk of heart disease including Aortic Stenosis, including reference to the NHS website.
NHS England have considered research that has evidenced that women tend to present symptoms of Aortic Stenosis at an older age than men. Both men and women exhibit the same symptoms of aortic stenosis, with dizziness and breathlessness more common in women.
NHS England have recently published an adult breathlessness pathway tool for clinicians working in Primary Care. This will help support diagnosis of chronic breathlessness which is a more common symptom of Aortic Stenosis in women.
NHS England have developed and published a new heart failure and heart valve disease e-learning for healthcare (e-LfH) course for primary care and community and enable health care professionals to better recognise the symptoms of Aortic Stenosis in both men and women, and to diagnose, manage, and support heart failure and heart valve disease patient.
Asked by: Yasmin Qureshi (Labour - Bolton South East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his department has made an assessment of the economic impact of late-stage heart failure; and what steps his Department is taking to ensure people receive an early diagnosis.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
No specific assessment has been made as to economic impact.
We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support primary care networks to help increase the volume of early diagnostic activity of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease and reduce patient waiting times. NHS England is also working with regions and networks to increase access to the Brain Natriuretic Peptide blood test, which will improve the early detection and optimum management of heart failure.
Additionally, a new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease.
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress his Department has made on the NHS Long-term Plan aim to increase access to echocardiography in primary care to help improve the investigation of patients with breathlessness.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
A new pre-diagnosis breathlessness pathway has been developed to support the improved recognition and timely diagnosis of heart failure and heart valve disease. We have introduced community diagnostic centres, which will support Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and reduce patient waiting times. The National Health Service launched 92 community diagnostic centres, which have provided more than 1.25 million diagnostic tests and will support PCNs to improve the detection of conditions such as heart failure and heart valve disease
Asked by: Virendra Sharma (Labour - Ealing, Southall)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January 2019, what recent progress her Department has made on increasing access to echocardiography in primary care to improve the investigation of patients with breathlessness.
Answered by Will Quince
People with heart failure will be supported by multi-disciplinary teams as part of Primary Care Networks and greater access to echocardiography within community diagnostic centres (CDCs). This aims to improve the investigation of those with breathlessness and the early detection of heart failure and heart valve disease. The National Health Service has launched over 80 CDCs to provide over two million diagnostic tests such as magnetic resonance imaging scans, echocardiography, echocardiograms, spirometry and phlebotomy.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to support increases in auscultation using a stethoscope in primary and community care settings to detect heart murmurs characteristic of heart valve disease.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England has assessed that the use of clinical auscultation using a stethoscope is not a sensitive way of identifying the presence and clinical significance of heart valve disease or the detection of heart murmurs.
To support the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease NHS England has committed to launch at least 100 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by 2024/25. These CDCs will provide services to detect heart murmurs, which are characteristic of heart valve and cardiovascular disease, through physiological measurement tests such as echocardiography and electrocardiograms, pathology tests, computerised tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans.
In addition, the National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement from prevention, diagnosis, treatment and end-of-life care.
Asked by: Philippa Whitford (Scottish National Party - Central Ayrshire)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what services breathlessness clinics will provide to support the early detection of heart valve disease; and whether those clinics will refer patients for auscultation using a stethoscope in primary care or community diagnostic centres.
Answered by Will Quince
NHS England has assessed that the use of clinical auscultation using a stethoscope is not a sensitive way of identifying the presence and clinical significance of heart valve disease or the detection of heart murmurs.
To support the early detection and diagnosis of heart valve disease NHS England has committed to launch at least 100 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by 2024/25. These CDCs will provide services to detect heart murmurs, which are characteristic of heart valve and cardiovascular disease, through physiological measurement tests such as echocardiography and electrocardiograms, pathology tests, computerised tomography and magnetic resonance imaging scans.
In addition, the National Health Service is investing in cardiac networks to support whole pathway improvements. These networks have been developed to take an evidenced based, clinically led, whole pathway approach to improvement from prevention, diagnosis, treatment and end-of-life care.