Tania Mathias – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Tania Mathias on 2016-09-09.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings in the British Red Cross research paper, Don’t stop at 999, published in September 2016, on preventable deaths; and what steps he is taking to ensure that basic first aid education is included in the Government’s public health strategy.

Mr Philip Dunne

No specific assessment of the implications of the recent Red Cross research – Don’t Stop at 999 has been made. However, it is recognised the timely application of first aid can help minimise the impact of injuries, as well as health conditions such as heart attacks and strokes, and contribute to avoiding preventable deaths.

The NHS Choices website contains information for the public on first aid responses to various injuries and health incidents. In addition, the Government is making available another £1 million to make public access defibrillators and coronary pulmonary resuscitation training more widely available in communities across England. This builds on last year’s funding of £1 million, which provided almost 700 more publicly accessible defibrillators in communities across England and increased the numbers of people trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

The national Act Fast campaign also aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of stroke, teach people what to look out for in themselves and others, and encourage those who notice the symptoms to call 999. Since Act Fast launched in 2009, it is estimated that an additional 47,000 people reached hospital within the vital three-hour window and over 5,000 fewer people became disabled as a result of a stroke.

Local authorities in England have the lead responsibility for identifying and meeting needs for local interventions to improve the health of their populations.