(2) how much funding for the implementation of the national screening programme for cardiovascular disease has been allocated in each of the next three years; from what budget it will be drawn; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether additional resources will be made available to support and treat those patients identified as high risk for cardiovascular disease following their screening by the new programme in England and Wales.
The Prime Minister announced on 7 January that proposals were under development for a vascular risk programme. A departmental project is currently underway to assess the costs and benefits of an integrated, systematic population-wide vascular risk screening programme. This would be focused on the shared risk factors for conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and chronic kidney disease and as such would use an assessment of risk based on a range of known predictive factors including age, gender, smoking status, body mass index, high blood pressure, and cholesterol and glucose, as appropriate.
This project will include estimating the amount of preventive work currently carried out by general practitioner surgeries and the impact of the introduction of a vascular screening programme.
The exact nature of a vascular risk assessment and management programme, including details of operational timescales for implementing the programme, are still the subject of developmental work.