The Department of Health and Social Care has announced a £10 million programme to install 5,000 new public access defibrillators (PADs) across England by the end of 2026. The announcement follows a parliamentary campaign led by the Oliver King Foundation and the British Heart Foundation, which has long argued that the UK's public AED provision lags behind comparable European countries.
Where Will the Defibrillators Be Installed?
The programme will prioritise three categories of location: deprived areas where cardiac arrest survival rates are significantly below the national average; rural and remote communities where ambulance response times exceed eight minutes; and high-footfall public spaces including transport hubs, shopping centres, and sports facilities that do not currently have AED provision.
The government has committed to ensuring that all new defibrillators are registered on The Circuit, the national AED database maintained by the British Heart Foundation, so that ambulance dispatchers can direct callers to the nearest available device in real time.
The Case for More Defibrillators
Approximately 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests occur in England each year, with a survival rate of less than 10%. Research consistently shows that survival rates double or triple when a defibrillator is used within the first three to five minutes of cardiac arrest — before an ambulance can typically arrive.
Despite this evidence, the UK has approximately 100,000 registered public access AEDs, compared to over 400,000 in Germany and 700,000 in Japan. The new programme represents a significant step towards closing this gap, though campaigners note that installation alone is insufficient without community training in AED use.
Training Requirements
The DHSC programme includes a community training component, with funding available for local organisations to deliver AED awareness and basic life support training. For organisations wishing to develop in-house AED training capability, Abertay Training offers First Aid Trainer qualifications that include AED training delivery.