Julian Sturdy – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Julian Sturdy on 2014-05-01.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to raise awareness of the conditions that can lead to young sudden cardiac death and sudden death syndrome.

Jane Ellison

The UK National Screening Committee advises Ministers and the National Health Service in all four countries about all aspects of screening policy and supports implementation. It is currently reviewing the evidence for screening young people between the ages of 12 to 39 years for the major causes of sudden cardiac death. A public consultation will open shortly.

NHS England is working with the Chief Coroner to discuss what the coronial system can do to help reduce sudden cardiac death in the young. As a result, the Chief Coroner has written to local Coroners asking them to make families of those who have died of the condition aware that it may be inherited, and encouraging them to contact either the British Heart Foundation, Cardiac Risk in the Young, or their general practitioner for testing and counselling.