§ Mr. AmessTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what provision he is making to implement the NICE recommendation to increase the use of ICDs from 17 per million population to 50 per million; [150860]
(2) if he will list the number of ICD implants per million population by (a) health authority and (b) regional health authority. [150859]
§ Mr. DenhamThe National Institute for Clinical Excellence guidance on the appropriate use of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) has been circulated very widely: copies were sent to health authorities, National Health Service trusts, general practitioners and many other health professionals, as well as to community health councils and patients' groups. Additional resources have been made available within health authority unified allocations to support the implementation of NICE recommendations generally. Implementation of this NICE guidance on the use of ICDs will lead to an increase in the number of ICDs implanted but, as NICE acknowledge, we will need to develop the capacity to achieve this increase in implantation rates. This will be taken forward within the overall programme of work to improve and expand services for coronary heart disease (CHD) in line with the CHD National Service Framework.
Comprehensive data about implantation rates by region or health authority are not available. The most recent national figures relate to 1998 and show the rate then, as stated in the question, as 17 per million population.