PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(17 April 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what was the average time between diagnosis and treatment for heart valve disease in (a) England and (b) West Sussex in the last five years; and whether he plans to set maximum recommended timeframes on this matter.

Asked by:
Alison Griffiths (Conservative)

The National Health Service is continuing to work to reduce waiting times for elective care as part of the Government's commitment to return to the NHS Constitution standard of 92% of patients receiving treatment within 18 weeks.

The information requested on waiting times is not held in the format requested. Between January and December 2025, 73.3% of completed cardiothoracic surgery, for instance coronary artery bypass grafts, valve replacements, both aortic and mitral, lung cancer surgery, such as lobectomies, and aortic aneurysm repairs, referral to treatment pathways with a known clock start were completed within 18 weeks. This excludes 134 completed pathways with an unknown clock start date.

In 2024/25, NHS England provided funding for 13 pathway improvement projects to have a positive impact on reducing the time for referral to treatment for patients with severe, symptomatic left sided valvular disease.

Answered by:
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