Written question asked by Andrew Rosindell (Reform UK) on Monday, 13 July 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 July 2026. It was answered by Sharon Hodgson (Labour) on Friday, 17 July 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Defibrillators

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to increase to availability of (a) defibrillators and (b) other first aid equipment (i) across England and (ii) within Romford constituency.

Answer

The Department’s position is that local communities are best placed to make decisions about procuring, locating, and maintaining automated external defibrillators (AEDs) that are managed outside of the National Health Service, including in the Romford constituency.

There are over 110,000 defibrillators registered in the United Kingdom on The Circuit, the independent AED database, and over 30,000 of these have been added in the past two years. Additionally, decisions on the provision of first aid equipment are generally taken locally by communities, organisations, and site owners.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 17970
Session: 2026-27
Transferred: Yes
Subjects: First aid Romford Defibrillators Medical equipment
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk

Defibrillators

Secondary information

Librarians' tools