National Audit Office: Progress in preventing cardiovascular disease (13 November 2024)

Summary

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a general term for conditions affecting the heart or blood vessels, including heart attacks, strokes, heart failure and other arterial and aortic diseases. The British Heart Foundation estimates that there are approximately 6.4 million people in England living with CVD (as at September 2024).

In 2022, CVD contributed to a quarter of deaths in England. Local authorities have a statutory duty to commission NHS Health Checks – used to help prevent CVD – for their local eligible population. While DHSC provides funding to local authorities for Health Checks through the public health grant, and retains policy responsibility, local authorities.

This report examines the effectiveness of the government‘s approach to identifying, preventing and managing CVD in England. It sets out:

• levels and trends in CVD in England
• the role of primary care in detecting and preventing CVD
• commissioning, delivery and performance on Health Checks
• wider public health work on preventing CVD.