§ 1. Mr. Win Griffiths (Bridgend)What plans he has for improving cardiac services in the NHS.[82085]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales (Mr. Jon Owen Jones)A national service framework for coronary heart disease will be published later this year. Its implementation will make a significant contribution to improving the quality of care and treatment for patients with heart disease in Wales.
Following the transfer of functions, this issue will be a matter for the National Assembly.
§ Mr. GriffithsI thank my hon. Friend for his answer, and, in particular, for the forthcoming publication of the national service framework. Will he convey to the Assembly—I am sure that someone quite close to him will be able to do that very well—the need to promote healthy life styles in Wales, and also the need to increase the resources available for cardiac care? Unfortunately, in Wales the problem is growing rather than diminishing.
Mr. JonesMy hon. Friend's point is well made. Cardiac services in Wales are indeed in great need, although heart disease is often preventable, and, given better life styles, we could do a great deal to reduce its incidence in Wales.
There is certainly some indication that demand is rising. I allocated an extra 1.4 million to the University Hospital of Wales last year so that cardiac surgery could continue there at its existing rate, but the Assembly will need to take advice from the newly formed specialised Health Service Commission on whether targets relating to cardiac surgery should be increased.