Medical Treatments: Innovation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether NHS England routinely monitors geographical variation in the delivery of specialised services including left atrial appendage occlusion or closure; and what action it takes where provision is concentrated in a small number of provider centres.
Answered by Karin Smyth
NHS England has not undertaken national assessment of the impact of centralisation of left atrial appendage occlusion (LAAO) services on travel or waiting times and there are also no plans to undertake a review of regional variation. These services are delivered in specialised centres to ensure clinical quality and patient safety. Regional specialised commissioners and integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for reviewing patient access, including travel and waiting times, as part of their routine oversight of service delivery and pathway design, supported by cardiac clinical networks.
NHS England does not hold a centrally published list of inactive LAAO provider centres. Responsibility for monitoring provider activity sits with regional specialised commissioning teams and ICBs. Where low or inactive activity is identified, regional teams take action to optimise use of approved centres, support referral flows, and ensure sufficient capacity. This is supported by data from the National Cardiac Audit Programme, including the LAAO registry, which informs quality improvement and benchmarking. Further information is available at the following link:
https://www.nicor.org.uk/interactive-reports/left-atrial-appendage-occlusion-laao-registry
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