Oral Answers to Questions

Chris Clarkson Excerpts

Tuesday 14th June 2022 Commons Chamber

The Secretary of State was asked—

[Chris Clarkson (Heywood and Middleton) (Con)]

1. What progress he has made on tackling the NHS backlogs in elective care caused by the covid-19 outbreak.

[The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Sajid Javid)]

First, may I associate myself with your remarks, Mr Speaker, about the Falklands war as we remember those who lost their lives and their loved ones?

We are making good progress on tackling the covid-19 backlog, having already halved the number of patients with the longest waits and delivered more than a million tests and checks at our new community diagnostic centres. Our elective recovery plan commits an additional £8 billion to deliver approximately 30% more elective activity than before the pandemic, and we have ambitions to go further to transform services, improve patient care and ensure value for money.

[Chris Clarkson]

The cost of living is foremost on everybody’s minds now, so what assurances can my right hon. Friend give me that my constituents in Heywood and Middleton—a part of the world he knows very well—will get bang for their buck from the extra money they are paying into the NHS and that the money will go on testing and treatment, not management and miscellany?