PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Heart Diseases: Surgery (12 November 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of people on the waiting list for heart-related surgery as of 12 November 2021; and what steps his Department plans to take to reduce that number.

Asked by:
Sir John Hayes (Conservative)

We have made no formal assessment of the potential effect of the COVID-19 outbreak on the diagnosis and treatment for heart and circulatory diseases. We continue to engage with NHS England and NHS Improvement to build capacity and to reduce the NHS backlog in elective care.

Data on the number of people waiting for elective services is not yet available for 12 November. The latest data as of September 2021, shows that there were 264,315 patients waiting for treatment in the cardiology speciality with 3,037 of those patients waiting 52 weeks or more for treatment. The number of total completed pathways per working day in the cardiology speciality was 2,542 in September 2021 or 105% of the activity levels in March 2020.

In September, we announced a total of £2 billion this year for the Elective Recovery Fund. This will be used to reduce waiting times and increase activity for elective services, including treatments for cardiovascular diseases. No specific assessment has been made of the impact of the Elective Recovery Fund on the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, but the intention is for the fund to improve all elective care services. An additional £8 billion has been made available across the next three years to reduce waiting times and transform elective services, including cardiovascular care. This could deliver the equivalent of around nine million more checks, scans and procedures.

At the Spending Review, the Government announced an extra £5.9 billion to support elective recovery, diagnostics, and technology over the next three years. This includes £2.3 billion to increase the volume of diagnostic activity and establish a total of at least 100 community diagnostic centres for clinical tests, including diagnosis of heart and circulatory diseases. This will allow the NHS to carry out 4.5 million additional scans by 2024/25, enhancing capacity and enabling earlier diagnosis.

Answered by:
Edward Argar (Conservative)
18 November 2021