Asked by: Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Merron on 4 December 2024 (HL1918), what steps they are taking ensure the appropriate use of sex-specific language in the NHS, as set out in the Women's Health Strategy for England, published on 30 August 2022 (CP 736).
Answered by Baroness Merron - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government and the National Health Service know the importance of using accurate and factual language in relation to biological sex as part of health communications. The Department’s longstanding position is that health information should be as clear as possible, and that language should be used that appropriately reflects sex as defined as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of minimum waiting times for elective care on patients; and if he will publish clinical advice his Department has received on those waiting times.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what his Department’s policy is on the use of minimum waiting times for elective NHS care; and whether he has considered prohibiting the use of such waiting times less than 18 weeks.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of deliberately imposed minimum waiting times for elective care on the NHS’s compliance with its constitutional access standards.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Stuart Andrew (Conservative - Daventry)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which NHS Integrated Care Boards use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
As set out in the Plan for Change, we are committed to returning to the NHS constitutional standard that 92% of patients wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment by March 2029. As of August 2025, the waiting list had reduced by over 206,000 compared to the start of July 2024 despite over 24.5 million referrals onto the list over this period. Performance against the standard for 92% of patients to start first treatment within 18 weeks of referral was 61.0%, 2.7 percentage points higher than a year earlier.
There is no formal national policy supporting minimum waits in the National Health Service and no national assessment has been made on the potential impact of minimum waiting. However, the NHS standard contract technical guidance for 2025/26 states that commissioners may choose to include minimum waiting times in Activity Planning Assumptions to ensure delivery of targets within agreed financial allocations. The guidance requires commissioners to consider the equality and quality impacts of their plans on patients and to plan to deliver their wait time targets as set out in the annual Planning Guidance.
Improving value for money and ensuring we are using resources in the most effective manner is a priority for this government. This provision was added to support commissioners in managing activity to ensure they can sustainably manage within their budgets alongside the other requirements set out in the operational planning guidance for 2025/26.
Integrated care boards (ICBs) hold the responsibility and budget for commissioning and delivering elective activity through providers in their local area, they have discretion to design bespoke services that work best for and meet the needs of their local community. The specific information requested on which NHS ICBs use minimum waiting times for elective care; and for what reasons, is not held by the Department.
We will work closely with all systems to ensure they deliver the expected level of improvement in waiting times set out in 2025/26 Planning Guidance.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of expanding primary eye care services through high street optometry practices to support early detection of eye conditions.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
ICBs already commission National Health Service sight testing services through high street optical practices. Regular sight tests, whether provided by the NHS or privately, play a vital role in the early detection of sight threatening eye conditions.
ICBs can also commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services. These services further support the identification and management of eye conditions to prevent avoidable sight loss.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help increase the use of the optometry workforce in (a) early intervention and (b) prevention of avoidable sight loss.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
ICBs already commission National Health Service sight testing services through high street optical practices. Regular sight tests, whether provided by the NHS or privately, play a vital role in the early detection of sight threatening eye conditions.
ICBs can also commission enhanced eye care services from high street optical practices, including minor and urgent eye care services and glaucoma referral refinement services. These services further support the identification and management of eye conditions to prevent avoidable sight loss.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions on the development of a National Eye Care Framework in England; and whether patients and sector experts will be consulted as part of that process.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The 10-Year Health Plan supports more locally developed and integrated neighbourhood care rather than a top-down, one-size-fits-all solution. Integrated care boards will want to take different approaches to commissioning primary and secondary eye care services, depending on the skills and resources available to them.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce regional variations in access to eye care services; and what discussions his Department has had with the optometry sector on increasing the use of community-based care.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
Over the last 12 months I have met with a number of representatives across the eye care sector including The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee, The Eyes Have It Partnership, as well as members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Eye Health and Visual impairment, which included the Hon. Member for Leicester South, to discuss primary eye care services. Officials in the Department also regularly meet with optometry stakeholders.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with stakeholders in the optometry sector on the future delivery of primary eye care services in the last 12 months.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
Integrated care boards are responsible for assessing the health needs of their population and for commissioning primary and secondary eye care services to meet them.
Over the last 12 months I have met with a number of representatives across the eye care sector including The Optometric Fees Negotiating Committee, The Eyes Have It Partnership, as well as members of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Eye Health and Visual impairment, which included the Hon. Member for Leicester South, to discuss primary eye care services. Officials in the Department also regularly meet with optometry stakeholders.