Heart Valve Disease: Health Services
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the variation in diagnosis times and access to treatment for heart valve disease by (a) region and (b) demographic group in England and West Sussex.
Answered by Mrs Sharon Hodgson
The Department recognises that variation in the provision of heart valve disease (HVD) services exists across England is taking action to address this.
NHS England is strengthening consistency in the diagnosis and treatment to reduce variation in HVD diagnosis, including in West Sussex. This included echocardiography workforce initiatives to increase diagnostic capacity for HVD referrals for 2024/25. In 2025, the Getting It Right First Time programme published new and revised cardiology pathways to reduce delays and guide clinicians through diagnostic steps and treatment planning, and enhanced recovery protocols for Aortic Stenosis (advanced HVD).
In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Research and the British Heart Foundation are partnering for the £50m Inequalities, which will fund a five-year consortium to generate research focused on tackling inequalities in ethnic minorities, deprived communities and unequal cardiovascular disease outcomes between women and men. More information is available at the following link:
https://www.nihr.ac.uk/news/new-50m-funding-to-tackle-inequalities-cardiovascular-disease
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