§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Warner)My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health (Miss Johnson) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement today.
The National Service Framework for coronary heart disease, published in March 2000, heralded a new era for the development of fast and modern services for the prevention and treatment of heart disease.
With significant progress now secured for patients with coronary artery disease, the National Health Service is now well placed to deliver similar improvements for patients with arrhythmia and with syndromes that can lead to sudden cardiac death.
Dr Roger Boyle, the national director for heart disease, is today launching a consultation paper on a new national service framework chapter for these conditions. The views received will be considered by a new expert group which is being established by the Department of Health to take forward the task of writing the new national service framework chapter.
The Government have already shown their determination to tackle coronary heart disease through the publication of the National Service Framework. The prospect of a new national service framework chapter setting out the standards and models of care for patients with arrhythmia marks a major step forward for cardiac patients in England.
Copies of New NSF Chapter on Arrhythmias and Sudden Cardiac Death: A Consultation Paper have been placed in the Library.