HEART VALVE VOICE CHARITY

Early day motion 279, tabled 4 July 2016 by Tom Brake (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 40 members.

That this House welcomes the work of Heart Valve Voice, a UK heart valve charity dedicated to raising awareness of the condition and seeking to improve its diagnosis and treatment; acknowledges that heart valve disease is a progressive condition usually associated with ageing, whereby the heart valves become damaged through wear or disease and cease to work properly; notes that the disease affects more than one million people over the age of 65 across the UK and if left untreated is irreversible and can progress to heart failure and ultimately death; further notes that the condition is treatable if identified early enough and can be diagnosed by simply listening to the heart with a stethoscope and followed up with an echocardiogram; expresses concern at the significant under-diagnosis of the condition in the UK and the local variation which exists in access to early diagnosis and effective treatments, including innovative surgical and transcatheter interventions to replace the damaged valve; and further expresses concern at the deficit in the number of heart valve replacements performed in the UK in comparison to European counterparts, such as Austria, Denmark and France.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 19, Labour 7, Conservative 4, DUP 3, Liberal Democrat 3, Social Democratic and Labour Party 3, Independent 1.